Homo sapiens is the binomial term coined by Carlos Linnaeus in 1758 for humans. The Latin pronunciation of it means “wise/sensible man”.
Now that seems to be relatable right? Because man has been considered the supreme living being over all the other. Over the years, nature has been the best companion to mankind. The usage of natural resources has been a great boon for development and still has a long way to go.
One of the biggest hindrances which we are facing now days is the dumping of wastes. Each method has its pros and cons. The most used methods are burning and landfills. Let’s take a look into landfills; before that, we need to know what a landfill means.
A landfill is the disposal of waste material by burying it, especially as a method of filling in and reclaiming excavated pits.
Most of them are confused between a dump and a landfill. A dump is an open hole laid in the ground where the trash gets buried and animals often move over it, it is considered to be risky as they don’t have any proper regulation for the surrounding. Whereas a landfill is a carefully designed and monitored structure that isolates trash from the surrounding environment like groundwater.
Here are some pros of using landfills
They are convenient to use
They can be used to produce energy
They can help keep the surroundings clean
This method is safe compared to the other disposal techniques
It’s easy to eradicate the toxic waste
One of the main aspects of Landfills is the conversion of methane gas into Carbon Dioxide. They can be done with the help of biosolids. They are used to create unique topsoil which covers the decommissioned landfills. The topsoil, in turn, uses the microorganisms present in it, which convert methane into carbon dioxide, which is a much less strong greenhouse gas.
Most of us aren’t aware of the harmful and toxic Methane gas which get released through landfills. One thing which we need to understand about them is, it (methane gas) turns out to be a greenhouse gas only when it gets emitted into the air from the landfills. It pulls the sun’s heat, warming the earth’s atmosphere. Instead of allowing landfill gas to escape into the air, it can be captured, converted, and used as an energy source. Landfill gas can be extracted from landfills using a series of wells and a blower/flare or a vacuum system. This can be used out for cooking or even a source of electricity.
Well planned and managed landfill can help in eradication of waste as well as transforming the emissions into useable energy. It all depends on how we face it and use it. This can be the main aspect of Waste Management.
Image Courtesy: Infrastructure News
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