Environment
Landfill
Definition
A landfill is a facility designed for the disposal of solid waste into the ground. Designs range from open dumps and basic controlled sites to engineered sanitary landfills, which use liner systems (geomembranes and clay layers), daily cover and compaction, leachate collection and treatment, and landfill-gas capture wells to protect soil, groundwater and air.
References
Overview
What it means
Landfilling remains the most common fate of municipal solid waste worldwide. An uncontrolled dump releases leachate into soils and aquifers and methane — a potent greenhouse gas — directly to the atmosphere, alongside fires, pests and community health risks.
A sanitary landfill manages these hazards technically: waste is compacted and covered daily, liquids are drained to treatment, and gas is flared or used for energy; sites typically operate for 10–30 years followed by closure and long-term monitoring.
How it is used
Landfill is the bottom tier of the waste hierarchy, applied to residual waste after prevention, reuse, recycling and recovery; methane from landfills is a reported source in GHG inventories, and landfill-gas-to-energy and diversion policies are standard municipal climate measures.
Why it matters
How waste is landfilled determines whether disposal becomes a long-term environmental liability or a controlled end point — and landfill diversion is a core circular-economy metric.