Segment 2 of S4E21 Lesser known landfill facts - The Wisconsin Vegetable Gardener radio show

In segment two Joey and Holly go over lesser known facts about landfills
There are fewer landfills today. In the 1980s, the United States was home to more than 7,600 dumps but that number was slashed by more than 75 percent – to 1,908 – by 2009. That’s partly because the average landfill grew substantially (approx. 4x) in size.
It doesn’t mean we’re producing less waste. Trash production has actually tripled in the U.S. since 1960! And, contrary to popular belief, much of this waste isn’t decomposing quickly, if at all. Landfill excavators have found 40-year-old newspapers with print that’s still completely legible.
We have room to grow, but at what price? Nine out of America’s 10 largest landfills will reach maximum capacity in less than 50 years. Is there room for new sites? Sure, though laws restricting the location of landfills means a longer haul for trash and increased emissions from trucking.
Landfills can find new life. Once a landfill reaches capacity, it can be capped and the area repurposed into nature preserves, golf courses, resorts and more. But, that doesn’t change the fact that we’re sometimes just tossing away otherwise valuable materials – like yard clippings, food and other organic waste – which could be turned into renewable energy through anaerobic digestion.
Landfills burn methane gas. A byproduct of trash in landfills is methane gas, which is vented or burned off via embedded pipes and released into the atmosphere. These harmful emissions are damaging the environment. Methane that comes from biomass can actually be turned into a power source!
Here are a few reasons why we shouldn’t toss food into landfills.

It increases greenhouse gas emissions. More food reaches landfills than any other single material in municipal solid waste. Food is a significant source of methane gas, which has 21x the global warming potential of CO2! If we diverted food waste from landfills, it would be like removing 2 million cars from the road.

It’s a waste of resources. Nothing ever decomposes completely when it’s buried in the ground, not even organic waste like food scraps. It just sits there untreated and creates loads of nasty fumes. Instead, we could be turning organic waste into clean, renewable energy through anaerobic digestion.

It’s a waste of money. Ten percent of the total U.S. energy budget goes toward food production and we waste between 30 to 40 percent of the food supply…that’s something like $165 billion each year that we’re basically just throwing away.

Think about what you can do
Reusing, striving to produce less waste, etc is the best.
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