Evolution of Landfills in the 20th Century

You might think this is an odd title for this blog entry because it refers to the 20th Century.    We could go back to the beginning of time and talk about a time when the human population was nomadic and disposal of waste was as natural as it is in the animal population.  I wanted to focus on modern history rather than ancient history for the evolution of landfills. 

 This photograph shows a typical municipal dump site that existed in Western Canada well into the 1980's.  At one time, the Health Departments even encouraged burning of wastes as it was thought to be more sanitary.   Burning, of course, created its own health issues and environmental problems.  In the early part of the 20th century, our waste products mostly contained wood products, metals, food wastes, some paper products and so on.  Plastics started to become more prominent in the 1950's and by the 1980's, our waste were a much more complex mix that included plastics, chemicals, and other commercial products.  

Burning of waste in an open trench is incomplete in comparison to incineration in a highly technical waste to energy facility.  Incomplete burning emits toxic smoke that includes dioxins and furans, and can impact the health of the population around the site.  

During that time, the most common complaints about the 'open dumps' had to do with burning.  Residents complaint of the smoke and the smell. 

 Because open burning became a problem issue, Health & Environmental agencies then began to pressure municipalities to stop burning.  The pressure came through education and by enforcement actions in some cases.  

The consequences of not burning without changing the fundamental way in which we operated the old dump sites was often ignored.   With the uncovered waste piling up in the open trenches, the rotting waste caused odour, insect, and animal nuisances.  Leachate issues were still ignored.  Disposal trenches filled rapidly because waste was not being compacted.    Litter issues became a much larger issue, and complaints about uncontrolled blowing litter became the top public complaint issue. 

Fortunately, Health and Environmental agencies and municipalities took action to develop engineered landfills and developed proper landfill operating plans and procedures.  The landfills were not only designed better, but they were also equipped better.  Landfill operators were better trained  and their job status gained respectability. 


Still, even with these improvements made over the past several years in landfill design and operation, litter issues remained in many cases.  

Managing litter issues at a landfill involves a variety of control techniques that includes, covered loads on hauling vehicles,  waste handling and compaction,  litter control fences, wind shelter, and effective litter retrieval programs.  Some landfills also have limits on waste receipts in high wind conditions. 

In future blog entries, I will explain many of these techniques.