The history of landfills and landfill gas management in the U.S.

The purpose of this article is to discuss the history of solid-waste management (SWM).n New York City, U.S., which was the first city to start refuse collection and establish a recycling center in the late 1890s.

by William F. Ritter

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to discuss the history of solid-waste management (SWM).n New York City, U.S., which was the first city to start refuse collection and establish a recycling center in the late 1890s. The first sanitary landfill was established in 1937 in California, but until the 1960s, many open dumps remained. In 1965, the Solid Waste Disposal Act was passed which was the first major legislation governing SWM. In 1976, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act was passed and amended in 1984. The 1984 amendments gave the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency the authority to regulate landfills and establish new criteria for landfills which resulted in closure of 50% of the existing landfills. Municipal solid waste (MSW) increased from 79.9 million tonne in 1960 to 261.8 million tonne in 2018. California has 300 landfills and 56 landfill gas (LFG) projects. Recycling rates vary considerably among the states. Eight out the top ten states with high recycling rates have high landfill costs, and nine of the top ten states with high recycling rates also have bottle bill legislation that requires a deposit on bottles. Sates with low recycling rates also have low landfill fees for solid waste.

Ritter, W. F. (2024). The history of landfills and landfill gas management in the U.S. Academia Environmental Sciences and Sustainability, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.20935/AcadEnvSci6163

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published: Academia Environmental Sciences and Sustainability, 2|2024
Keywords: Energy Recovery, Landfilling, Pollution Control, Sustainability, Climate, Resource management, Mixed Waste, Methods, Analyses, Data, United States of America