Waste Disposal Issues

In the United States, laws for industrial and residential garbage disposal vary in each state. Discarding non-hazardous garbage, like residential and commercial garbage, is usually handled by local government, while management for hazardous waste, such as industrial or biomedical waste, is the responsibility of the producer. Each method of disposing waste has its disadvantages. Regardless of all the laws and accountability factors, waste disposal has become an issue in many parts of the United States and is overall affecting the environment, people's health and community aesthetics.

Garbage Landfills

• Residents who live around landfills and environmentalist groups are opposed to landfills because major issues arise out of using this method to dispose of garbage. Landfills are broken up into four categories to separate the types of waste dumped in them: sanitary landfills, municipal solid waste landfills, construction and demolition waste landfills and industrial waste landfills. However, this does not ease the public outcry about them. All landfills produce toxic chemicals and generate large quantities of methane gas. Landfills have a high concentration of vermin and scavenging birds that populate the landfill and surrounding area; contaminated soil is introduced into the local water systems when it rains; the wind blows litter and putrid odors into the surrounding areas; and much of the waste is not biodegradable. Due to public opposition, very few new landfills are being developed, and the owners of current landfills are being pushed to incorporate safe methods to reduce the garbage.

Aquatic Environmental Issues

• How waste management companies dispose of toxic and industrial waste in the ocean and other waterways is affecting aquatic ecosystems. Oceans, rivers and streams are commonly used to dispose of toxic waste such as sewage sludge, dredge oil, chemical and nuclear waste, plastics and a myriad of other types of hazardous, non-biodegradable waste. The practice of dumping waste in the ocean and other waterways is killing the animals that live in and around these waters; it also creates a major public health risk for humans who consume marine life. The March 2011 indictment of a Pennsylvania waste management company, Allan's Waste Water Service Inc., and past indictments of Occidental Petroleum, Unocal Oil Company and Texaco-Chevron suggest that disposing of toxic waste in waterways is unacceptable.

Incineration Concerns

• Waste disposal issues have resulted from incinerating waste such as biomedical waste, liquid waste and gaseous waste. Incinerating toxic waste causes dangerous pollutants, like dioxins and lead, to be emitted into the atmosphere. The environmental activist organization Greenpeace is a major proponent of shutting down incinerators because of the cancer-causing gas dioxin that is released into the air; an 84-page report by Greenpeace titled "Incineration and Human Health" states that no type of incinerator is safe. Waste management companies that are contracted to dispose of medical waste are under constant pressure to find alternative ways to burning it. Burning residential waste contributes to lung disease in humans and creates mountains of poisonous ash that has to be discarded.

Disposing of Nuclear and Radioactive Waste

• How to safely dispose of nuclear and radioactive waste is at the forefront of the waste disposal debate. The facilities that develop products that use nuclear and radioactive power usually stockpile waste in storage sites that are forgotten. Key issues in disposing nuclear and radioactive waste are the cost, the health risks and the amount of time it will take to clean up. Officials with the U.S. Department of Energy approximate that it will take 75 years and $300 billion to properly dispose of accumulated nuclear and radioactive waste.