What product takes up the most space in US landfills? - County of Hawai‘i Department of Environmental Management (2024)

FAQs

What product takes up the most space in US landfills? - County of Hawai‘i Department of Environmental Management? ›

What product takes up the most space in US landfills? According to the US EPA, the material most frequently encountered in MSW landfills is plain old paper, it sometimes accounts for more than 40 percent of a landfill's contents. Newspapers alone can take up as much as 13 percent of the space in US landfills.

In fact, food is the single largest component taking up space inside US landfills, making up 22 percent of municipal solid waste (MSW).

In 2018, about 146.1 million tons of MSW were landfilled. Food was the largest component at about 24 percent. Plastics accounted for over 18 percent, paper and paperboard made up about 12 percent, and rubber, leather and textiles comprised over 11 percent. Other materials accounted for less than 10 percent each.

Americans make 294 million tons of trash every year. About half of that goes straight to landfills. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the most common material sent to landfills is food.

According the U.S Environmental Protection Agency, in the United States, food is the single largest category of material placed in municipal landfills, where it emits methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.

Did you know that the number one thing that Americans throw away is food? According to the National Resource Defense Council, 40 percent of the food we buy ends up in the garbage leading to America wasting $165 billion per year.

Food is the single largest category of material placed in municipal landfills and represents wasted nourishment that could have helped feed families in need.

Whittier, California—Home of the Puente Hills landfill

The Puente Hills landfill in Los Angeles County, California, has the unfortunate distinction of being the largest landfill in the U.S. It's located in Whittier, a small city with a population of 84,821 (according to the 2020 census).

What takes 1000 years to decompose? ›

Plastics: up to 1,000 years

Water bottles, for example, lead the way as far as longevity is concerned; numerous studies suggest they can take up to 1,000 years to degrade.

California, Texas, and Kansas have the most operating landfills, rankings which partially correspond with the states' relative size and populations. California, with 118 working landfills, has more than twice as many as any other state, except for second-ranked Texas.

The facts are undeniable. Because the United States is running out of landfill space, Americans will simply not be able to put the 180 million tons of solid waste they generate each year into landfills, where 70% of it now goes.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the most common material sent to landfills is food.

A lot of the different materials that end up in landfills contain toxins that are eventually released and seep into the soil and groundwater. These substances are major hazards to the environment and can last for several years.

The Puente Hills Landfill is the largest landfill in America. Over 150 m (490 ft) of garbage has risen from the ground since the area became a designated landfill site in 1957. In 1986, there were 7,683 landfills in the United States.