Waste transfer stations or material recycling facilities are sites where recyclable materials and waste are collected. At the stations, the waste is classified and separated to later be transferred to another area or facility for recycling, demolition, or landfill. The waste transfer stations are not just another stop for our garbage, here a fundamental process is carried out to reduce pollution by waste.

Waste transfer stations reduce waste going to landfills, preventing much hazardous chemical pollution remains from ending up in landfills, plus the transfer of waste from local collection trucks to larger vehicles, such as a train or ship, reduces significantly the cost of transportation and the environmental impact of transporting garbage.

The production of human waste increases year by year. This vast amount of trash has formed islands hundreds of thousands of miles long in the oceans. There is so much litter that ends up in the oceans and on land that it has entered the food chain, greatly damaging biodiversity.

One way to reduce the amount of human waste is recycling in recycling centers; by lengthening the useful life of materials and preventing them from ending up in landfills, but also avoiding the production of new materials and thereby avoiding the over-exploitation of raw materials and the pollution that comes with the extraction of materials and their production.

Not all the containers we consume are recyclable, even those that may seem so, that is why sometimes the local recycling center does not accept all the waste we carry. For example, while plastic bottles are the most widely recycled plastic products, not all bottles are made from the same plastic and their acceptance varies depending on the capabilities of each local recycling center.

In addition, the recycling services can reject your waste for recycling because it is dirty or contaminated since this means that it can no longer be recycled. Another reason facilities may reject materials is because of their shape, since some objects can damage the machinery, such as hooks. Other items that you cannot deposit in the recycling centers are:

• Syringes
• Bowling balls
• Aerosol cans that are not empty
• Plastic bags
• Batteries
• Diapers
• Electronics
• Ceramics

Most of the local recycling centers work on a standard schedule according to their location and have a page on the internet, where you can check, what days they do not operate, what hours they serve, their address, and everything you need to know about your local recycling center.

Sanitary landfills are designated sites for the disposal of garbage or other types of solid waste. Large holes are built at these sites into which garbage is buried. Until a few years ago, landfills were a major source of pollution due to the contact of toxic waste with the environment, but today they are designed to prevent waste from reaching and contaminating groundwater.

Sanitary landfills are built with a layering system that isolates debris from air and water, which is vital to preventing pollution. The garbage is compacted in cells to make the most of the available space, for which heavy machinery such as excavators and compaction equipment is used. Some of the polluting byproducts of garbage generation, such as methane, are captured and used to generate electricity. However, landfills continue to represent an important source of pollution, since when they reach their maximum capacity, the land on which they are built will take thousand of years to recover.