Landfill

As a method of reducing the costs of solid waste disposal in landfills and of solving the problem of finding suitable landfill sites, many communities have initiated recycling programs. Some programs are carried out by segregating and collecting the recyclables separately from the materials destined for the landfill. There are also many drop-off programs for specific items such as bottles, plastics, cans, and newspapers.

Some communities require individual households to separate glass, plastic, and paper, while other programs have installed systems to separate the items at a plant and then sell them to manufacturers. The special collection of hazardous chemical wastes has also been initiated in communities that either recycle them or dispose of them more safely than in a landfill. Several things, besides saving space in landfills, are then accomplished with recycling programs. One is a cost benefit to the municipality and another is a decrease in the exploitation of natural resources, such as trees, metals, and petroleum.