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.

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

The fashion industry has become the second most polluting in the world, only behind the big oil companies. The environmental impact of the textile industry extends throughout its “commercial ecosystem”: from production, distribution, and exhibition to acquisition, care, and washing processes and, finally, its disposal. In the United States, more than 12 million tons of clothing are dumped in landfills annually.

Clothing and textiles are 100% recyclable, but only 15% are recycled in the United States. To recycle clothing, it is best to first consider whether it can have a second life and if so, give it away, donate it or take it to a second-hand store, always clean and dry to prevent the spread of bacteria, viruses, and fungi.

When it comes to clothes that are already in very poor condition or pieces of fabric that can no longer be reused, it is best to take them to a collection point that accepts this type of waste. At recycling centers for textiles, clothing is turned into fiber and used to make new products, such as padding, rubber-coated playgrounds, and some materials for the automotive industry.

Glass is infinitely recyclable, so it is critical to deposit it in the right place and prevent it from ending up in landfills, since glass never degrades and affects diversity and the environment if it is not treated correctly. Most of the glass found in landfills comes from discarded beverage bottles. In the United States, according to EPA data, the recycling rate for glass bottles is only 31.3%.

The best way to recycle glass bottles is to take them to local recycling centers, where you can even get paid for your bottle recycling. In most of these centers the price they pay per pound of glass is 0.1 USD/LB.

Also, recycling glass saves tons of natural resources, such as sand, soda ash, limestone, and feldspar. Recycling glass also reduces carbon dioxide emissions, as the glass from recycled bottles melts at a lower temperature than virgin materials, which means less energy consumption in the production of new bottles.

Plastic bags are one of the most difficult types of plastic waste to recycle, mainly because they are single-use bags and in most curbside recycling programs they are not accepted. This is a huge issue for the environment as 100 billion plastic bags are used every year in the US alone.

The best way to recycle plastic bags is to take them to local grocery stores, or big box stores like Target or Walmart, which have specific bins for this type of plastic, or you can search for plastic bag recycling locations near you at: www.plasticfilmrecycling.org

It is essential to wash and dry all plastic waste, including single-use bags, before depositing them in the recycling, because if the bags contain food scraps, or some other source of bacteria, they contaminate the entire batch in which they are deposited, and cannot be recycled.