Why are conventional landfills a problem?

Conventional landfills are not sustainable: the land on which many landfills sit is at a premium, landfills are not reusable for roughly 30 years or more, and they emit tons of carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere every day.

Landfills are designed to hide our garbage from public view, which unintentionally supports a lack of awareness and concern for the environmental damage wrought by these landfills. On average, Americans produce 1,609 lbs. of garbage per year per person, of which about half go to landfills. [4] As these disposal sites inevitably approach fill limits, they demand increased attention, funding, and more land to build new landfills.