Organic Waste and Landfills

​FAQs - America generated 268 million tons of waste in 2020 and almost twenty-five percent of what ends up in the recycle bin is contaminated.  Read on for more FAQs. 

Organic Waste and Landfills
By Pierre Mouchette | Real Property Experts LLC

FACTS

• When organic waste sits in a landfill it decomposes, emitting methane which is harmful to the planet (landfills are the third-largest source of methane emissions in the US).
• Burning plastic may create some energy, but it also produces carbon emissions.  Although many incineration facilities label themselves as ‘waste to energy,’ studies have found that these facilities release more harmful chemicals (mercury and lead), into the air per unit of energy than coal plants.
• Almost twenty-five percent of what ends up in the blue recycle bin is contaminated, according to the National Waste & Recycling Association.  In the United States it seldom makes sense to employ people to sort through recycling so that it can be made into new material.  Virgin plastics and paper are still cheaper to produce in comparison.  For now, it’s cheaper for companies to manufacture using new materials rather than recycled ones.
• There are chemicals in plastic that can easily be transferred to your food by microwaving in plastic.  The most commonly used chemical is phthalates, which makes plastics soft and bendable.  Phthalates are not chemically bound to plastic, so it can get transferred to other things easily.  Ingesting this chemical can cause premature births, asthma, cancer, miscarriage, male infertility, premature breast development, and abnormal male sexual development.