The Challenge to Achieve Better Landfills Where Only Dumps are Achieved Now: An Anthology

All around the world the inadequate, unsafe and unhealthy open dumping of solid waste remains the most widely used waste disposal method. It thrives on the mistaken belief that it is the cheapest disposal method and the only one possible in places with difficult economic and social conditions. It is argued that this belief need not be true.In general, clean and healthy living conditions in cities, towns and villages cannot be achieved without reliable and regular waste collection and disposal. In past years much effort has been expended in the more progressive cities and towns to improve urban collection services. They should now be encouraged direct in their attention towards improving the standard of landfill disposal. Open dumping is prevalent in around one hundred and seventy-five countries out of about two hundred sovereign states and distinct territories in total. It has become more and more obvious that it is no longer realistic simply to remove the potential health risks posed by waste from city streets only to accumulate them at an open dump in a nearby suburb or rural area. No amount of careful collection or waste treatment will reduce the hazards to health and the environment posed by disposal, if the final resting place for waste is an open dump. Open dumping is a generator of ill-health.