We need to fix landfills - here's how

Almost 40% of all garbage still ends up on places where it should not, mostly landfills. They cause many diseases and are a massive driver of climate change, releasing methane. The solutions vary from high tech modern landfilling to simple waste segregation and composting.
#planeta #landfills #composting #methane
We're destroying our environment at an alarming rate. But it doesn't need to be this way. Our new channel Planet A explores the shift towards an eco-friendly world - and challenges our ideas about what dealing with climate change means. We look at the big and the small: What we can do and how the system needs to change. Every Friday we'll take a truly global look at how to get us out of this mess.
Credits:
Reporter: Albert Steinberger
Video Editor: Markus Otto Mörtz
Supervising Editors: Kiyo Dörrer, Malte Rohwer-Kahlmann
Fact-Check: Alexander Paquet
Thumbnail: Em Chabridon
Read more:
Global Waste management Outlook 2024:
www.unep.org/resources/global...
World Bank Publication: What a waste 2.0:
datatopics.worldbank.org/what...
Global Methane pledge:
www.globalmethanepledge.org/
Study: Quantifying methane emissions from United States:
landfillscarbonmapper.org/study-finds-...
Environmental Protection Agency (US): Facts and figures:
www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures...
Chapters:
00:00 Garbage Fires
00:50 A Global Problem About to Get Worse
03:27 Design and Engineering Solutions
06:19 Reducing Organic Waste in Dumps
09:36 Dumpsite Restorations
11:10 Conclusion: The Bigger Picture

[@DWPlanetA]

Are there issues with dumpsites and landfills where you live?

[@DougGrinbergs]

Boulder County, Colorado Marshall landfill, closed in 1992, is a Superfund site 😕

[@hatimabbas7111]

Here in Pakistan, Karachi waste is dumped into the desert of balochistan while alot and lots of waste (especially plastic bags and bottles) end up on side of roads and all open spaces in the city 😢 very very little is recycled and government is corrupt. People are illterate so use more and more single use plastics and have no idea about climate change and effects of plastic.

[@waqasahmed939]

​​@hatimabbas7111 I had someone from Multan come to my house via airbnb in the UK He said that in Pakistan, nobody recycles. I thought the people in my parent's village don't recycle because they're from a village but sadly it seems it's true for the entire country I personally end up filling one 70 litre bin bag every two weeks. I have two lodgers and I think that's about 10kg of waste in two weeks. It's that low because greater Manchester recycles a lot. What I can't recycle in my council (most plastics), I take to my parent's council. I think I do "OK" to only have one bin bag of rubbish every two weeks but it could still be better I can even "recycle" food waste here which means that the heavy waste for me is food waste, paper / cardboard, glass jars, cans etc... All of those are recycled I'm basically left with plastic film stuff / crisp packets which can't be recycled What's more easily possible in Pakistan, is composting. I even compost my finger and toe nails. Hot composting is very quick too and is really good for the soil

[@ConstantChaos1]

Lack of diversion methods, recycling is expensive and there is no composting services, my food scraps go into my garden and I re-use and even recycle some myself (I am a very handy and very nerdy person so glass blowing, paper making, and metal smithing are all hobbies of mine) but I cant even keep up with feeding my family and take care of all we make so yeah, and I'm already well outside the norm.

[@rezayaseri2790]

Qom, Iran. yes we dumped waste out of city but recently the government declare to build a biogas power plant. they want to dig a big hole and make a layer and then put some tanks and fill them with waste and water and burn the methane gas and produce electricity.

[@gaspikefan]

I live in a small town in North Carolina, US that apparently lost its recycling solution within the past few years. It still collects recycling separately, but it is an illusion. They stopped accepting glass years ago for that reason. Now, recycling waste, including cardboard and paper, is dumped into the landfill. I have often wondered why we continue to separate anything and hope it's because they are actively searching for a solution. However, it feels like we are going backwards.

[@HarryLovesRuth]

Single stream recycling was a scam that only looked viable when we were shipping our "recycling" overseas. I believe it also made recycling into a category that no longer had any intuitive meaning. I'm old enough to remember the Boy Scouts doing newspaper and aluminum drives as fundraisers. People seemed to understand that the newspapers needed to be clean and the cans rinsed out. But now my neighbors regularly put food covered styrofoam take out containers in the bi-weekly recycling pick up. (We have racoons who will knock over the cans.) Another commenter mentioned the fraud that the plastics industry perpetuated by claiming that plastics could be recycled. They can't, and the market share of plastic packaging has made local glass recycling economically infeasible. We've also lost the ability to put glass in our single stream bins. It breaks at the sorting facility which is dangerous and contaminates any paper that might be recyclable. We still have glass collection points. I fill up a tote bag with our glass empties and drive them to the convenience center once a month. If you are looking for a place where things might be used again, I recommend the following 1. Schools and daycares often welcome plastic grocery bags. Kids get messy and need to change. They use the bags to send home the messy clothes. 2. Children's museums, libraries, and churches who do crafts are sometimes interested in egg cartons, paper towel and toilet paper rolls, and cereal boxes. 3. Friends with gardens are often happy to have your coffee grounds and apple cores. Our compost pile always has way too much carbon from the fall leaves. If you weren't over the mountains, I would love to take those off your hands. (Hi, from Tennessee, BTW.)

[@gaspikefan]

​Thanks for your insights and tips. Yeah... We need to drive the things that =can= be recycled easily, such as glass and cardboard, to a place that will actually do it. Plastics are a joke, and we avoid them as much as possible... To the extent that we use reusable bags for most everything and have to consciously NOT use them every so often so we can get plastic bags for the few times that having one is nice. I am also a gardener with compost, and we add those mentioned items and more to enrich it! Nice meeting you.. Greetings from Monroe!

[@SD-vy7gj]

Metal and glass are the only materials that are recyclable and are widly recyced because it takes 90% less energy to recycle them than to refine and produce them. Plastic, cardboard, fabric, papers none of these are recyclable because their biological. The problem is none of them biodegrade well these days.

[@boyblue3270]

America attacked abortion rights....we still wonder if it's going backwards ?..

[@gaspikefan]

@@SD-vy7gj Cardboard (unsoiled only) is easy to recycle. They use it to make other cardboard, paper board, shoeboxes, etc. I agree with the rest, though.

[@reuse_or_die]

I'm a waste reduction specialist. The solution is to reuse FIRST rather than recycle. WE need refillable food packaging, not disposable. We had this in the recent past. It's achievable. It's cheaper. It is the ONLY sustainable solution. Recycling is NOT the only solution. It's a low priority in terms of sustainable development

[@Suburp212]

Yes!

[@dennis2376]

Or better food packaging, TV dinners for example has plastic covering the food and can not be recycled.

[@kinngrimm]

Exactly. There was a documentary about how Coca Cola replaced a working glas bottle system on an island so it could squeez out a few more cents with the end result that the island inhabitants were not prepared and able to recycle all the plastic waste created. Now see that on a global scale. There are also meanwhile popping up again stores where you can get in flexible quantities anything from grains to beans, rice and what not. Before those we have had that for a long time in the sense of centner packing, but nope we needed smaller packaging which in return ment more plastic needed to package the same amount of food. Look at how the Oil/PetroChem Industry replaced hemp products and lobbied it internationally. Reycling becomes even less effective when you think of the hundreds of different formulars for plastic and how those can not be recycled when they are all thrown together. Ofcause noone wants to have those clearly identfied or reduced to a managable amount of a few plastic formulars for easy recycling.

[@robupsidedown]

Remember that the plastic industry is the fossil fuel industry. They have been aggressive in usurping re-useable packaging.

[@brunosco]

My food comes mainly from a non-profit store buying organic food from local farms, and it’s mostly bulk and package-free. Of course it requires a bit more time and organisation, but it’s worth it. And cheaper as well. I’d encourage everyone who has that kind of opportunity to give it a try!

[@martin_93]

In Poland, we're so modern that we store our trash in the cloud.

[@Drad_]

And the air is perfectly fine to breathe as long as you chew it first!

[@goruguro]

Cloud Solutions 🆒

[@A3Kr0n]

Computers can do that?

[@fredericoamigo]

😂😂

[@GaddarKerim1]

Keep it!

[@janefloyd8236]

No one is talking about our consumerism. It seems we have evolved into mindless consuming not thinking twice about the garbage we create daily. Garbage created in the fast food industry is astounding. I witness the garbage bagged and going out the door with no concern or cares. A conversation needs to happen surrounding this

[@SD-vy7gj]

Ppl are to frightened of having less to ever consider eduction as the solution to our problems. It's always, more nuclear power! Recycle plastic.. a non recyclable biologically poision material that's contaminated the whole planet....

[@ahoog69]

One small observation that relates to this mindless consumerism seems to happen every time I visit the grocery store. I always bring along fabric grocery bags that I have been using for years. Almost without exception, the shoppers in front of me are offered or request paper (or plastic, until it was finally banned) shopping bags from the checkout clerk. Simply inexcusable at this point in time. How difficult is it to keep a few high-quality bags in your car?

[@jonbarnhard3681]

​It's not just up to the consumer, we consume what products are available and or are affordable. Yes reusable bags are a no brainer, but think about all the other products we buy just to live that are only available in disposable plastic. shampoo bottles, dish soap bottles, the container that your milk comes in. All these materials that get sent to recycling, but since recycling is a sham, the majority of it goes to the incinerator or landfill. I remember before covid, there were a couple of zero waste markets poping up where you could bring your own washed containers, but all there products where at least twice the price. I remember I brought a reused laundry detergent jug that I had paid 8 dollars for originally, the product at the zero waste market was 40 dollars to refill it. The manufacturer has to take responsibility for their part. @@ahoog69

[@securion100]

The countries with the highest "consumerism" are the cleanest in the world.

[@AbhishekRamesh1]

​@securion100 Probably because it's population is less

[@user-fr2tk1we7r]

"waste to energy" is more than burning methane. It's also burning trash, i.e. Sweden burns most of thrash which was not possible to reuse or recycle. Volume of thrash ending in landfills is just a few percent comparing to input. Additionally it is solid and not soluble on water. This should be the way.

[@beatreuteler]

In Switzerland we are doing this too!

[@robertdouglas8895]

All of my food waste goes into my garden. Grow our own food in our neighborhoods and schools.

[@gawkthimm6030]

and the plastic wrapping everything else you buy come in, old electronics, batteries, ?

[@skah5651]

We could change plastic. To make it more durable and easier to recycle. Or change material. Back to glass, paper, aluminum.

[@ConstantChaos1]

Same, on top of that we cant recycle glass, luckily I love glass blowing lol

[@gawkthimm6030]

@@ConstantChaos1 what?. my nations has intense recycling of all glass and plastic bottles, with automated return machines in all shops and stores that give you a coupon voucher for the glass and plastic bottles worth. mandated by law...

[@skah5651]

@@gawkthimm6030 is it Germany? I believe only 10% of plastic bottles get reused, the rest is burned.

[@matt45540]

I'll be willing to bet there's a lot more landfills in the US. In Southeast Georgia where I'm from there are several superfund sites, several of which are small dumps from old chemical factories where they made their own landfill to dump their own waste. I'd hate to wonder how many small independent landfills popped up like that that aren't documented.

[@machine_gun_jigwy]

In my neighborhood in Budapest 8, they started community composting a few years ago. It's a massive urban center with 10-12 story buildings so I was really happy for the initiative as selective garbage collection is not a thing here. The compost gets reused around the district to plant flowers, shrubs, new trees.

[@santaclaus0815]

Recycling is expensive. Reuse is better, for example by putting a deposit on packaging such as bottles. In theory, prevention is quite simple, but the political will is lacking. Individual citizens have little room for maneuver here. Politicians must regulate this through laws. The negative effects of landfills can be minimized by drying the garbage so that it does not ferment and by banning toxic substances in the materials. Organic waste could also be disposed of in the sewage system without causing any ecological harm, but you would need 1) a shredder and 2) enough water. This would actually work with plastic waste too. This would save you having to have garbage trucks on the road and garbage cans in the city and garbage rooms in buildings. Disposal would be much easier and there would be no smell anywhere.

[@brunosco]

Drying would require additional power, which would create more pollution, unless done in an ecological way (sun…) Interesting idea with the sewage system. I wonder how realistic and beneficial that would be…

[@santaclaus0815]

@@brunosco You can get a lot of energy back from the drying process. Just use the steam for other purposes. Polutions is a question of how good your filters and burning processes are.

[@kkanth0ny]

we 100% need to fix landfills. and one place people should turn to and learn from is Singapore. they have the best trash system in the world!!! and Singapore is CLEAN AF!

[@naisyjohns]

They're rich enough to do it

[@_RIL_]

For how smart human beings are and for all the amazing things we have designed, I can't beleive a landfill site was one of them. I struggle to believe recycling had such little attention paid to it for all this time.

[@yuanruichen2564]

Because it doesn't make money! Capitalism 101. For high value waste such as gold, copper and other metal, as well as batteries, most of them get recycled

[@wday8302]

I asked my mom when we were at the grocery store, I was 5 or 6 years old, "How come we don't bring our own containers to fill". A simple question from a simpler time, but very profound. The Product doesn't have to have Product Branding glued all over the packaging, that just gets thrown away anyway. The Real Problem is the Product Packaging. Western Civilization for the Whole World! It is Glorious!, Isn't it?!

[@fuzybear15]

I grew uo next to a landfill. It only became a problem when Toronto purchased it since Michigan said no more trash will be accepted by you Canadians. Then the dump ballooned! I've been on a never ending effort to teach people to reduce, compost (rot), refuse, repair, recycle and many sustainable living initiatives. Its hard to teach an old dog new tricks but people are slowly catching on.

[@enseta331]

My home town in Alabama refuses to recycle anymore. The locals mix trash and recycling when they are given a garbage bin and a recycling bin. They restarted and ended the recycling program maybe 5 times in the past 20 years. I believe recycling is not a strong solution but maybe composting is. Here in alabama, our plants overgrow the land quickly, brush piles and food scraps alike can be composted. In fact, there is one town close by, Vestavia, who pick up compost alongside trash. Locals can go to the compost facility to get bags of compost for free, or a truckload if you have a pickup truck.

[@yuanruichen2564]

how are you going to compost plastics?

[@vulcanfeline]

@@yuanruichen2564 well obviously, you don't compost plastics. however, they aren't recycled either. answer with plastics is to Reduce Consumption, which admittedly, isn't as easy as it sounds when the fossil fuel industry is pushing it everywhere

[@beatreuteler]

We have the Koelliken (Switzerland) Landfill removed about 25 Km east of where I live during the past 25 years. Action completed about 5 years ago. The landfill was covered by a pillar-less roof structure that was at that time I think the largest pillar less structure of the norhern hemisphere. The roof was there to collect emission gases and probably to hold rain water from washing out toxic content and leak it into the ground. I think quite a few such removal projects will follow throughout the country. In general, dumping is illegal here since many years and landfills are less and less active since strong smoke cleaning devices and toxic gas retention systems were developed and furnaces were equipped with these that generate heat and finally electricity from not only the gases coming out from the waste, but from burning the entire waste. In this way, waste is turned into fuel for bio mass power stations. In parallel, we do a lot to increase recycling rates. With metals, glass, paper, cardboard, batteries, textiles and PET recycling we are beyond 90% that flows back countrywide I think. Since recently, other plastic materials are recycled as a blend (different from the pure PET). Since that works, the waste my wife and I are producing is down to 1x 35L waste bag every 3 weeks to a Month.

[@johndoyle4723]

Thanks, I worked in the recycling industry for 30 years, most wastes can be recycled to some extent, but finding a market for the recycled material and turning a profit are big problems. To make a profit you usually have to charge for accepting the waste, waste producers will pay the minimum possible and will often choose landfill for cost reasons rather than pay for recycling. To be fair, here in the UK some of the larger and better manufacturers have a no landfill policy, and will pay.

[@ronaldkable]

Great doco. With massive floods now being a daily occurrence somewhere on Earth, I worry about all the additional waste that's generated - when people toss out their water-damaged stuff, it's just the start of the journey

[@StreetMachine18]

i am able to separate about 75% of my own organic waste and compost it in my back yard, mixing it with leftover charcoal from our campfires to use in my garden beds

[@michasosnowski5918]

Great. I do the same. And wonder why only 75%. I think I do almost 100%, apart from what ends up in the sink with the dishes.

[@StreetMachine18]

@@michasosnowski5918 some organics have mixed reviews for backyard composting. meat, bones, etc. and its mainly me diverting it to compost my wife still scrapes plates into the trash before washing them. lol

[@andreasherzog2222]

The problem starts earlier. In large parts of the 3rd world they don't even have a working waste collection, not to mention landfills.

[@garrettmillard525]

Plastic gets all of our recycling attention because the fossil fuel lobby has been marketing it to us for half a century. Ironically, plastic is the one material that is really not a concern at all to landfill. It simply acts as a stable form of carbon storage. Wet waste and paper products are what need to be focused on to get out of the landfill, the best option is anaerobic decomposition into fertilizer and methane. But even just incineration is much better than letting it rot in landfills. The issue is when incinerators start burning plastics.

[@tec4303]

Why is it an issue if they burn plastics?

[@lockehart7716]

Conservation of matter, plastic being burned releases much worse chemicals into air particles thar can be inhaled, seeps into water sources or stays in the atmosphere that gets in to the water cycle. While plastic just staying in the ground is just slowly breaking down by uv ray and the elements. Not that much better since it'll still degrade and pollute the area but not as catastrophic as burning a large volume of it everyday without any processing

[@SD-vy7gj]

Plastic isn't recyclable because its b8ological. It's not biodegradable either as most biological materials are. It's poision. That's contaminated the entire biosphere. Your aware view of the fosil fueld industry lies mixed with your blasay attitude to plastic is very disconcerting. Plastic ir recyclable is the most damaging lie that's ever hit the biosphere

[@eltorito4897]

​@@lockehart7716 you are incorrect dont you think they filter the gases generated by burning. Also with burning you get some metals as a byproduct that dont have to be mined again so it reduces co2 emissions even more

[@lockehart7716]

@@eltorito4897 read again "...but not as catastrophic as burning a large volume of it everyday without any processing"

[@CausticLemons7]

Around Tampa, Florida we collect a lot of the natural gas from landfills. Some is used to create electricity, but we also have CNG powered garbage trucks and buses. I don't know if our landfills supply them directly but they're at least part of the cycle.

[@Sean-qk7ps]

A good example of partly recycling trash -- natural gas from landfills. The breakdown of trash producing heat and leachate is usable. Ironic how the garbage trucks to the landfills are powered by Compressed Natural Gas, just what these landfills produce.

[@CausticLemons7]

@@Sean-qk7ps Another interesting cycle is that we can burn organic material (like plants) for electricity. I have seen local tree and landscaping services using electric tools, so they could also be powering their own equipment with the waste they create.

[@Panthernation64]

I’m a waste water operator grade 3 in the United States and like garbage we have a hard time getting rid of our sludge created by the waste water plant. We have a sludge bio solids dryer but because of many factors it hasn’t ran in years. It reduces the amount of water from the sludge by 90 to 95 percent making the sludge into a dry highly flammable dust like matter that can be used for fertilizer or spread on any land as its harmful properties are nearly non existent. It’s a form of organic compost I guess you can say. Maybe we will get our dryer working again one day or get one without the many complications ours has had, so we can eliminate our severely reduce our sludge removal problems.

[@Zantides]

Recycle 11 small or 3 large plastic bottles in Norway and you're left with $1. We recycle some 92% of all plastic bottles sold.

[@susanblackley7065]

Thank you for your work & this reporting.

[@ftchannel21]

There´s an old landfill next to my hometown, which leaked into the public bathing pond. People were getting sick and it needed to be shut down. It reopened after a restauration of the landfill. (Mind this happened in Germany!)

[@curtisnixon5313]

My vege and kitchen scraps go into an in-ground compost bin. I got an old plastic wheelie bin, cut the bottom out, drilled holes in the sides, from the bottom up two thirds of the way. Now it's buried in my garden. After six months I dig a new hole and move it there. It rots down and feeds the garden plants. We need to do pyrolysis of suitable waste like plastic, tyres and wood. A synthetic diesel is produced, with mineral components left behind like carbon black, silica and others.

[@thoughttourist4716]

Bulgaria has a huge problem with waste management and illegal landfills. They most often occur in the low-income neighbourhoods or towns, municipalities very often close their eyes on this. The worst I have seen in the second biggest city in Bulgaria (Plovdiv), is illegal landfills on the shores of Maritza river which crosses the city and is part of the European ecological network Natura 2000. Many protected species inhabit that wetland and yet no authority has managed to preserved its shores from turning into illegal landfill.

[@sjoervanderploeg4340]

I have a compost bin with worms living in it, almost all my waste goes in there and they make short work of it for me! The end product is worm poo, that I mix with soil to feed my plants.

[@badrinair]

thank you

[@urbanstrencan]

We need solutions for landfills and fast, the piles around the world are growing. Great video keep up with great work 😊❤❤

[@JeffBilkins]

Once we depleted the natural resources our old landfills will be a valuable mining resource.

[@GaddarKerim1]

Maybe 100 million years later.

[@yuanruichen2564]

@@GaddarKerim1 only if humans are still around

[@dennis2376]

I think a lot of Canada is now good on landfill management. It is the reuse and plastic part of the problem that needs action. Thank you.

[@BaronVonSTFU]

I was hoping this video would be more about getting rid of a need for landfills entirely and not curbing their destructiveness. We live on a finite planet and global warming, while being a large problem, is not the only huge problem we are facing. We consume way too much and we throw away way too much. Unfortunately, everything is so driven by profit motive, I don't forsee the problems being solved since it is as you said, it's just cheaper to throw it in a bit pile

[@flandrinelextensionniste6490]

Not many people know that but the wildfire at the start of the video is *better* in terms of CO2 than leaving the pile alone. It's awful in terms of small particles during the fire of course, but globally, better burn the methane than to let it into the atmosphere.

[@sether255]

5lbs per day? I have no Idea how that's possible. I'm American, and just estimating the weight of all the trash bags I throw away, it's maybe 30 lbs per month.

[@Byzantion]

simply composting your waste is going to stop this problem and you create high quality compost for your plants to grow high quality food without chemicals

[@A--_--M]

Mysuru mentioned!!!! Lesss gooo

[@bentcn8511]

I wished nothing is mixed materials, where recycling or composting is impossible.

[@debian9226]

Human are too busy exploring other planet, forgot to solve major problem on its own planet

[@Certago]

Another reason why the demographic development we're going through as a species is good, humans are not ready for the gift that is earth. I'm glad I am alive and I get to see many wonders of the world but I also see endless greed, suffering and childish behaviour from our so called leaders. If there is indeed a dark age ahead for humanity, we have well and truly earned it.

[@donmckechnie9858]

What we need is more people, especially those that live and waste like those of us in the United States. UG

[@kaputfretudy]

The ultimate solution is to move to a circular economy model, globally. Instead of the tale-make-waste model, we have the 5 R’s: reduce, re-use, repurpose, refuse and very last, recycle. Container deposit schemes help encourage this. Imagine all the jobs created. The plastics lobby has fought against this paradigm shift for decades. Make the industry bear the cost of cleaning up plastics from our oceans, and fixing our landfills and dump sites.

[@Holy_Frijole]

good overview on garbage

[@jonathanclark5240]

I would like to know more about how the place in India is recycling more than 90% of all their waste--what is their general living standard? I would also like to see more context in the data--for example, how many homes, Y, are producing enough waste to power X number of homes? I'm guessing W2E is a small % of our energy needs. Good video, though.

[@Dead.garden]

Have spots to dry the trash burn it. Can't do that then don't allow plastic in there. Oh I'm sorry you can't do that because it's literally everywhere. Like bottle gords and birdhouse gords use to be used for a water bottle. So at this point reduce plastic production use sustainable materials. Have more green spaces in the cities to reduce air and ground pollution and provides shade and a ecosystem.

[@Sport-ws6ef]

What surprises me the most is that previously poor countries go from being naturally zero waste (growing their own food etc.), to using EVERYTHING single use plastic etc.... Why are they not going the "re-usable route" immediately? Re-usable is in many cases easier as well, since you never run out of the thing, only the content sometimes. E.g. I always carry my own water bottle, super thin foldable bags, etc. I never have to buy pads and tampons, which is 1 less thing to worry about running out of.... In the long run it also saves money... And these things don't need to be expensive up front.

[@Alamchief]

There is the automatic compost generator is small for the kitchen and it creates soil. it’s kind of expensive tho

[@samkothari9029]

Here in my village I don't think even whole family produces 500gm of waste a day

[@barryhessel6078]

I usely save plastic bottles for recycling. but now stores not accepting them.

[@yuanruichen2564]

our future is a gigantic landfill

[@jordanh9668]

Hydrothermal carbonization is really interesting technology with a lot of potential.

[@sarcasmo57]

Makes sense.

[@YoJesusMorales]

Separation of organic matter should be easy enough for it to be global. Reuse would mean stopping plastic which is bigger a hurdle.

[@eaglenetmedia9928]

Sometimes we are locked into illusions or masterplans of others. Every community must have its own masterplan as regards to waste management.

[@artwillvideos]

If you grow something, anything, then composting is a natural no-brained.

[@classapart8254]

Why no one in the govt talks about Waste management and recycling?????

[@sunalwaysshinesonTVs]

Anyone else thought, based on the thumbnail, this was a Cities Skylines 2 update? Likewise, much like CS2, global warming will get multiple patch updates, but ultimately, the problem is just too big and complex to fix... cause the fact of the matte is, global warming isnt a pollution problem... it's an economic one.

[@elismart13]

😮👍

[@ConstantChaos1]

My food scraps go into my garden lol

[@harshikanag7830]

👍👍👍

[@igorbukovy4313]

Waste management is a big problem in developing countries.

[@majorfallacy5926]

What's usually neglected in the trash debate is that waste management is a highly local and often cultural issue with global consequences. While the US as the richest country in the history of humankind sends half its waste to the landfill, in many European countries the ratio is way below 10%. Framing the issue as something "we" as a global community have to solve might miss the mark and makes it all too easy to shift the blame. In theory, waste management is a (mostly) solved problem. In practice, it usually fails on a local policy level.

[@ssruiimxwaeeayezbbttirvorg9372]

Yes, but be careful, they will tell you to sort your trash and pay more, cause now you are having collected 4 bins not just one.

[@DougGrinbergs]

3:45 U.S. landfill map project LMOP

[@sesntainueve]

The solution seems to be to employ really cheap labor to collect and separate the trash by hand, yep.

[@President_NotSure]

aliens would say to make more land with it

[@Forza300team]

The USA and the Britain shamefully export their waste to overseas poor countries that don’t have the infrastructure to process or have landfill systems such as Indonesia and African nations.. but yet, we are caught up in a culture embedded in values of living large in big houses and overconsumption at the cost of the environment and developing countries

[@falsificationism]

"...in the short term, [methane is] over 80x more potent at heating the planet than carbon dioxide..." Um...but if methane emissions never reverse (show me the 20-year stretch where we abate methane emissions)...doesn't it follow that methane is THE big, controllable GHG emission of interest? It seems like most reporting on this is wrong. Methane is minimized and emphasis is placed on transport and EVs, but we should be doubling down on agriculture, trash, and other sources of methane more than anything because it has both near- and far-term consequences. What am I missing?

[@KanineC]

The reality is methane and carbon dioxide both need to be curbed soon and fast to avoid tipping points. The methane stat he included here is used EVERYWHERE but it's deceptive for two reasons. 1. He leaves out that the "80x" more potent refers specifically to over a 20-year period. 2. The average time of methane in the atmosphere is closer to 11-12 years, which a research paper suggested means that methane is in fact 101x more potent in its lifetime compared to carbon dioxide. So yes, methane is really bad.

[@falsificationism]

@@KanineC Wow/yikes... I do agree with both/and, but honestly...choices WILL be made, and it seems like most of the CO2 choices are low-hanging fruit that won't really disrupt capital (EVs are good for profit margins actually). But changing the food/waste system or even simply rolling back subsidies on meat and dairy seem like a political non-starter...feels like we're truly screwed.

[@KanineC]

@@falsificationism Yeah, if we could focus on one, we buy ourselves a bit more time by focusing on methane. My belief now is that we have to get rid of market-based economic systems (profit/growth addiction) to have a chance at a human hospitable climate for the foreseeable future, which would require major social upheaval. It's definitely easy to give in to despair, but we're better off at least trying.

[@falsificationism]

@@KanineC "... we have to get rid of market-based economic systems (profit/growth addiction) to have a chance at a human hospitable climate for the foreseeable future..." Here here! Jason Hickel talks about this in his trade publication on degrowth and I really couldn't agree more! Lots of work to be done...fundamental changes to systems...incrementalism isn't going to get it done. Cheers and thanks for the additional clarity on methane!

[@SunriseGroupGermany]

If recyceling is to expencive why dont they Burn it get thermal energy?

[@love-garden279]

That's because of e-waste etc is in the landfills and people aren't caring at all

[@OrdynskyiVladyslav]

Heavy chemicals? What are those?

[@GaddarKerim1]

Batteries

[@santaclaus0815]

Build waste incineration plants! This may not be ideal from an environmental policy perspective, but it solves the waste problem and even saves CO2 if it means that coal-fired power plants can be closed.

[@johgude5045]

I live near by such a plant. The electricity production is almost laughable compared to a coal fire plant.

[@MattieAMiller]

Not to mention that CO2 has less effect than methane on global warming.

[@santaclaus0815]

@@johgude5045 you compare 2 randomly chosen plants. how smart is that?

[@lofen83]

​@@santaclaus0815 I used to worke in a waste to energy plant. Unfortunately because of the trash the tubes in the furnace corrodes if you let them get to warm so you cannot utilize as much of the energy in a steam turbine as you can in a coal/oil/gas plant. You're lucky if you can get 20% electricity in an economical way. Most energy from our plant goes to the distributed heating system for the city. In a good day it is 40 MW electricity generated and 190 MW heat delivered. Most often it is less electricity. But its a really good way to heat cities and give a little support to the electrical grid. In summer some of the heat is used for absorption heat pumps in the district cooling system.

[@johgude5045]

@@lofen83 exactly what i meant, thanks for the comment. Here in Germany Coal Power plants all have an efficiency of 35 to 40%. The incineration plants are also all in a same league, below 20%, while the ones that are more efficient all do waste drying prior to entering the facility. The one only 1km away from my flat mostly uses wet waste, being mostly below 10% electrical efficiency.

[@barryhessel6078]

why don't you use it to generate electricity?

[@GaddarKerim1]

Money to make investment.

[@melodyoregon11]

US landfills are not even remotely similar to those in other parts of the world. They are engineered and HIGHLY regulated. Regulations require minimizes working faces, liquids revival systems, lined cells, groundwater monitoring systems around the perimeter, managed interim covers over filled areas, vector continue, and gas collection. It's clear Dehli hads no regulations

[@Battleneter]

The world needs to ship all its waste to Australia, no one will even notice.

[@justinciallella4724]

I compost all organic matter, not a drop of my organic waste has gone to a landfill in over 25 years

[@kudajingkrak4919]

3:24 dampsites and landfills are Not the biggest contributors. The biggest contributors are weapon industries/wars, bombs, guns, rockets, including rocket launching spacecrafts.

[@dennisalbert6115]

Note how they have a note on climate change and not pollution, climate change is a greater problem to them, why don't they educate and aggressively fight against pollution as they do climate change? It's sickening

[@pretoasted]

Landfills will become goldmines once the tech to process it all is profitable; I'm guessing sooner than later at this point.

[@zeken4413]

Good luck 🤣🤣🤣😂🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@RabidLemurs]

People don't produce the majority of waste. The companies that make single use packaging produce the majority. Check out how ecologically friendly dump sites are from before the industrial revolution.

[@lil----lil]

What is the UN doing? Sipping coffee in a cozy office with a nice window view by 1st Avenue.

[@TheDanEdwards]

"What is the UN doing? " - so you want the UN to be an actual government? Are you willing to pay taxes?

[@sirensynapse5603]

Sheeple just gotta go. I swear to God.

[@myboysd5772]

Who gets to decide who the sheeple are, are you sure you are safe in case the purge you wish happens?

[@souravmj8667]

We create a problem, we find a solution, the solution becomes a problem the we find another solution which will eventually become a problem

[@santaclaus0815]

Solving problems politically requires courage on the part of politicians, because the solution is often inconvenient for the people. The people prefer to elect populists to office, such as Modi, who simply ignore the problems.

[@steffen6987]

Wait what? I thought this was a thing of the past...

[@MateyCrook]

Give me 1B and I will build a waste plant that is from the future. Sustainable. Green Energi and Enverimont Friendly!

[@Pigeon_Flipper]

Banning plastic would make things easier

[@chefnyc]

We should ban single use plastic. But there are lots of household items made from plastic. Like those rain-proof chairs for the garden.

[@macbuff81]

Build modern efficient waste-to-energy facilities. It's not perfect, but it does get rid of dangerous landfills ans produces energy in the process. Landfills are banned in some countries including Germany. That said, a lot of countries still export their trash across the oceans to developing countries. This needs to be banned

[@lecherousjester]

The audio track on this video is awful, it's like an alarm that keeps going off. I guess I'll never know how we're gonna fix landfills because I couldn't get through 2 mins of this video

[@vorpalinferno9711]

100 years into the future, our children will find a way to 'mine' these landfills using nanotechnology/AI.

[@Christopher-cr7pw]

The easiest way to limit is to fully recycle everything, for anyone that says not everything is recyclable is a lie, everything can be separated either by chemical make up or physical or like food could used to feed livestock or feed insects to inturn feed livestock

[@robertdouglas8895]

One problem is that plastics are very expensive to recycle for the recycled products they provide. Not even China wants it now, except for special types. Cleaning and reusing containers would be more expensive but I expect that is the direction we will eventually have to go.

[@Christopher-cr7pw]

@robertdouglas8895 it's only expensive because no one has done it on a huge efficient way yet but with time that will change, we just need more coding, CAD and robots then it'll be easier

[@robertdouglas8895]

@@Christopher-cr7pw What do you think about reusing containers like we used to do with soft drink bottles?

[@Christopher-cr7pw]

@robertdouglas8895 yes for recycling or for melting down for toys or equipment not for reuse directly

[@robertdouglas8895]

@@Christopher-cr7pw Why is that? Heating water to clean them would be cheaper than for melting them. The soda bottles used to go back on the same trucks that brought the refilled bottles. Central locations could clean the bottles and charge for the cleaning. Every food producer would use the same bottles.

[@markvanderknoop131]

😂😂 push a pipeline down and tap the methane. It's mandatory here for every dumpsite

[@samg7123]

Bio Gas is the way to go #bjp #modi please so this one simple thing to segregate garbage and use all bio for producing methane. Reduce pollution, clean cities and less oil import. It’s a win win . No brainer. You also get to feel good about it. I want to see India be a leader from being a laggard in climate causes

[@Littlefire71]

They burn it all the time

[@user-gq5kc1ow7k]

what about birth control?

[@missevolucion7737]

34 millón... No way... Im definitely staying child free...

[@wildone8397]

Sad for you.... In the future!..

[@GaddarKerim1]

Keep it so but don't forget to mate for your needs.

[@shane6450]

Easy to shift blame on your imaginary child. You’re apart of the problem like everyone else, you don’t get to remove yourself from this problem.

[@GaddarKerim1]

@@shane6450 It is not blame. Less human being means less CO2 production.

[@abrarmullan1]

Bring back Thanos.

[@lenanicole2837]

We're literally already living in Idiocracy.

[@minirock000]

The past-tense for "cost" is "cost".