The largest landfills in the world of technology. An electronics dump in the capital of Ghana. Landfill in New York, USA

12.03.2020

Even 25 years ago, the situation was not yet so critical: for example, in 1992, garbage was also brought to Nigeria from other countries, but then everything was dumped in a landfill remote from the settlements. Now both the dump and the city have grown, so that the largest city in Africa has become, in fact, one of the largest dumps in the world. Schools, hospitals, offices - everything is right in the dump. And most of this stuff comes from Europe.

In 1992, about 7 million inhabitants lived in Lagos, and the landfill was far outside the city, so that it could only be reached by car. Today, this city has 21 million inhabitants, which is more than the population of Austria, Switzerland and Denmark combined. The city became so big that its borders reached the dump, and the dump itself, in turn, grew so much that it became an integral part of the settlement, and its central part. On the one hand, there is an elementary school, on the other, a hospital, and in the middle, right among the garbage, there are residential buildings, roads, highways. For many, the landfill has become a place of work.

According to recent studies, most of the garbage in Nigeria is broken electrical goods, a third of which are old TVs, as well as photocopiers and refrigerators. In total, there are more than 66,000 tons of such garbage in Lagos, a quarter of which is toxic to the environment.

Why did it happen? Obviously, it is cheaper to take garbage to Africa than to recycle it at home, especially if there are no suitable waste recycling plants in the country. A two-year study by Africa Focal Point and United Nations University found that most of the e-waste comes in containers from Europe, while similar ships also come from the Americas, but they are disproportionately lower - about 7 percent.

According to the documents, of course, ships do not carry garbage - the accompanying papers for such cargo indicate that the containers contain working equipment, cars or household products. No one checks these ships either when departing from Europe, or in the port city of Lagos itself.

The worst thing about this situation is that toxic waste is not disposed of in any way, and in the conditions of Nigeria's high temperature, it pollutes both the land and the ocean, and significantly impairs the health of the local population. Mercury, cadmium, lead - there are more than enough of these toxic elements in the composition of non-working electronic equipment.

Another consequence of such pollution is the spread of disease. The more landfills, the more rats, the more polluted nature, the weaker people's immunity. Epidemics of viral diseases occur regularly in Nigeria, including two outbreaks of Lassa fever last year, a disease with a high mortality rate.

an easy and cheap way to get rid of plastic waste in the oceans without harming the living creatures that inhabit the waters.

On September 21, the Week of the World Action "Let's Clean the Planet of Garbage" begins, designed to draw attention to the problem of environmental pollution. Today, our selection features places that need to be cleaned first.

Agbogbloshie, Accra, Ghana

All computers go to hell - to the Agbogbloshi landfill in Accra, the capital of Ghana. It is one of the largest e-waste dumps in the world. Virtually all developing countries dump e-waste at this landfill.

Agbogbloshie in Accra is a workplace for several thousand locals who are trying to find the right parts among the waste. From completely faulty devices, they are trying to extract non-ferrous metals by burning, as a result of which tons of toxins are released into the atmosphere.

Despite the huge amount of harmful substances emitted by the waste, none of the workers have any means of protection. The average salary of people working at the dump for 12 hours a day is about $ 2 per working day.

This is the largest landfill in the entire world. It is located in the North Pacific Ocean. The main garbage taken out here is plastic. The area of this giant landfill is about 6 thousand square kilometers. Toxins released by decaying waste poison both animals and humans. Basically, marine life suffers from the overgrown landfill, among which there are a lot of mammals: whales and dolphins. The archipelago in the Hawaiian Islands, where garbage is dumped, is incompatible with the life of living organisms. However, a large number of people come to the islands who want to find something useful there. For many of them, this is their only source of income.

New landfill, New York, USA

13,000 tons of waste are dumped daily at this huge landfill. The New York dump even has its own local attractions, such as a huge mountain of garbage 25 meters high. There are not as many tramps in this dump as in Grye.

Puente Hills, Los Angeles, USA

8,000 tons of rubbish per day and several thousand trucks full of rubbish daily. Quite a lot for the city of angels and the sun, considering, for example, that in neighboring Canada the largest landfill in area is half the size of Puente Hills in Los Angeles.

Collective landfills in the UK

Although the British are concerned about the huge amount of garbage in their landfills, but so far they cannot cope with this problem. The United Kingdom alone emits twice as much garbage as all the eurozone countries combined, although Britain is far from the first place in terms of population.

16.04.2018 10:57

Moscow, April 16 - Vesti.Ekonomika. In recent years, the problem of waste disposal has become one of the most pressing in the world. However, the problem is much broader: in different countries of the world, unauthorized landfills are increasingly being formed.

Such dumps are not only illegal, they also cause fires, pollution of soils, rivers and underground reservoirs. That is, they cause irreparable damage to the environment.

However, there are also positive examples of the use of garbage, when landfills produce electricity and biofuels by processing incoming garbage.

Below we will talk about the 15 largest landfills in the world.

Landfill Xinfeng, Guangzhou, China - 92 hectares

More than 10 million people live in Guangzhou. Every day, 8 thousand tons of waste appear in the city, which end up in the Xinfeng landfill.

This landfill is managed by the French company Veolia.

This landfill is one of the largest in Asia, and $100 million was allocated for its construction.

The incineration plant operated by Xinfeng processes about 2,000 tons of garbage a day to produce biogas and electricity.

Veolia takes half of the energy received, while the other half goes to the needs of the city.

Landfill West New Territories, Hong Kong - 110 hectares

Hong Kong is one of the most developed countries in the world, but this country produces huge amounts of garbage.

Most of this garbage ends up in the West New Territories landfill, which covers an area of 110 hectares.

This is the largest landfill in Hong Kong. It is managed by the French company Suez Environment.

However, there is also a positive point - the management company produces gas and electricity from garbage.

It is noted that although this is the largest, it is far from being the only garbage dump in Hong Kong.

Every day, up to 14 thousand tons of garbage enter Hong Kong's landfills.

Landfill Deonar, Mumbai, India - 132 ha

India produces about 60 million tons of garbage every year.

Of this volume, the city of Mumbai accounts for 2.7 million tons.

The Deonar landfill, which covers an area of 132 hectares, is located in the eastern suburbs of Mumbai.

This is the oldest landfill in India, formed by the British back in 1927.

Up to 8 thousand tons of waste enter the landfill daily

Landfill in Newton County, Indiana, USA - 162 hectares

This is a huge landfill in the US state of Indiana, which covers an area of 162 hectares.

This landfill serves nearly 300 households and business centers.

It is estimated that the landfill will continue to receive garbage for the next 20 years, which will lead to the growth of its territory.

At the moment, attempts are being made to transform the disposal of incoming garbage and reduce the level of unpleasant odor.

Landfill New Delhi, India - 202 ha

Every day, the Indian city of New Delhi produces about 9,200 tons of garbage daily.

This waste is distributed to three landfills - Narela Bawana, Bhalswa, Okhla and Ghazipur.

The total area of these landfills reaches 128 hectares.

With the exception of the newly formed Narela Bawana, the rest of the landfills are very old and have been used up for a long time.

For example, at the Bhalswa landfill, garbage heaps already reach a height of 41 meters. Nevertheless, the landfill is still working, and more and more garbage is brought here.

In 2013, an additional area of 74 hectares was allocated for waste storage near New Delhi.

Thus, to date, the total area of landfills in the city is 202 hectares.

Sudokwon landfill, Incheon, South Korea - 231 hectares

The junkyard in Incheon was established over 20 years ago, in 1992.

At present, about 20,000 tons of garbage are delivered here every day.

At the same time, electricity is produced from garbage - 50 megawatts, due to which water is desalinated and soil fertility is restored.

At the same time, more than 700 thousand trees are planted here.

This landfill is used as a good example of how waste can be used efficiently.

In particular, students are brought here on excursions. There is also a museum on the territory of the landfill.

Puente Hills, Los Angeles, USA - 255 ha

This landfill in California is said to be the largest active landfill in the US.

Nearly 1,600 trucks of household waste are brought here every day.

Every day, 10.3 thousand tons of garbage comes here.

The highest peak of the landfill is 150 m, and the total area is almost 283 ha.

Landfill Malagrotta, Italy - 275 ha

This landfill is considered the largest in the European Union. About 4 thousand tons of garbage are brought here every day.

Until 1984, this landfill was illegal, but since 1984 it has been given legal status.

Here, as in other developed countries, they try to use garbage to good use. In particular, it produces electricity and biofuels.

Guatemalan landfill - 283 ha

This landfill is considered the largest in Central America.

500 tons of garbage are brought here every day.

This is a small volume compared to other landfills, and this is due to the fact that the inhabitants of Guatemala are not too concerned about the disposal of garbage and easily throw it right into the street.

In general, everything that can be thrown away is brought to this landfill, and therefore it poses a serious threat to the health of thousands of people who live right on its demarcation line.

At the same time, the landfill is also a source of income, as many residents rummage through the garbage in an attempt to find something of value.

New York junkyard

Instead of the old giant landfill that once existed in this largest metropolis, where garbage was taken from all over the city, a new huge landfill was built in 2001.

Every day, 13 thousand tons of garbage are brought to it.

The New York landfill even has local attractions, such as a huge mountain of garbage 25 m high.

Landfill Laogang, Shanghai, China - 336 hectares

It is the largest landfill in China. It serves the largest city in the world, Shanghai, by population.

However, this landfill is also an example of sensible waste disposal.

Here they collect methane, which is usually generated by all open landfills, and process it into electricity.

In total, they receive 102 MW of energy, which provides electricity to about 100 thousand households in the district.

Landfill Bordo Poniente, Mexico City, Mexico - 375 hectares

Mexico City is one of the most populated cities on the planet and it is logical that one of the largest landfills in the world is located in the vicinity of this city itself.

This landfill was closed in 2011. Prior to its closure, it received about 15 thousand tons of waste daily.

In addition, the landfill fed entire families - people came here in search of valuable things.

However, after the landfill was closed, these families lost their source of income.

The country's authorities planned to build a waste processing plant, but so far things are going very slowly.

Apex Regional landfill, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA - 890 ha

This landfill is located in the vicinity of Las Vegas.

It contains 5 million tons of garbage. It is the largest landfill in the United States in terms of the volume of daily incoming garbage.

Las Vegas and suburbs produce about 10.5 thousand tons of garbage daily. Actually, this garbage goes to the Apex Regional landfill.

The landfill is operated by Republic Services. It was opened in 1993.

This is the largest landfill in the US.

Guiyu Landfill – 5,300 ha

This place is known to the world as the world's largest e-waste dump. China is the largest importer of e-waste.

About a million tons of electronic waste is imported here annually, mainly from the USA, Canada, Japan and South Korea.

Guiyu began bringing in electronic waste in 1995.

According to current estimates, about 150,000 workers are involved in the processing of garbage from more than 100 trucks unloaded daily.

Guiyu is deservedly nicknamed the electronic graveyard.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch - 6,000 sq. km

The landfill, located in an archipelago near the Hawaiian Islands, is the largest landfill on our planet: its area is about 6 thousand square meters. km (600 thousand ha).

Basically, plastic is exported here, and toxins that are released from decaying waste poison both humans and animals.

Mostly marine life suffers from a huge landfill: dolphins, whales and other animals.

The archipelago is incompatible with the life of any living organism, however, for many people who come here in search of something useful, it is the only source of income.

There are many landfills in the world, but we would like to present the 10 largest specialized landfills in the world, that is, technical dumps that collect a certain type of "garbage" on their territory: tires, cars, trains, etc.

1. Graveyard wood

Although it is really just an open-air lumber yard, the tens of thousands of fallen dead trees are depressing. The timber warehouses located in Biholm, Sweden are the largest in the world.

2. Cemetery of tanks

Kharkov tank repair plant in Ukraine. More than 6.5 thousand tanks have accumulated on its sites. T-64, T-72, T-80 - there is everything for fans of history and tank building.

3. Cemetery of fire trucks

Once these machines helped save a lot of lives, and now they rust and gather dust in the open air. Old decommissioned fire trucks from all over Los Angeles are brought to this cemetery of technicians.

4 Tire Graveyard

The largest tire dump in the world is located in Kuwait. And it grows year by year.

5. Stunningly beautiful glass graveyard

Glass Beach in Fort Bragg, California is the world's largest dumping ground for broken bottles and glass. When the local authorities tried to clean up the beach, they took out all the garbage, except for broken glass, because it was impossible to remove it. But over the years, the waves have honed and polished the pieces of glass, turning the entire beach into something amazing.

6. Car graveyard

One of the world's largest cemeteries for cars and other vehicles is located in Tacoma.

7. Cemetery of buses

Murrieta, California is one of those places that showcases human extravagance. Dozens of buses will not go anywhere else.

8. Graveyard of ships

These images from the Google Earth satellite will not leave anyone indifferent. The port of Nouadhibou, located in Mauritania, is one of the largest ship cemeteries in the world.

9. Graveyard of trains

In the southwest of Bolivia, there is a desert in which more than 8,000 trains are rusting and gradually being destroyed.

10 Aircraft Graveyard

At Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona, there is a huge aircraft graveyard that holds $35 billion worth of old planes. There are 4,200 planes on the 2,600-acre wasteland, 80 percent of which are gradually being scrapped for parts for the US Air Force.

In the hot summer period, the problem of garbage disposal is relevant, in particular, the problem of burning landfills, causing serious damage to the global ecology. We decided to draw attention to the current situation with a selection of the 5 largest landfills in the world.

Agbogbloshie in Accra, Republic of Ghana

All computers go to hell - Agbogbloshi in Accra. It is one of the largest e-waste dumps in the world. Virtually all developing countries dump e-waste at this landfill. Agbogbloshie in Accra is a workplace for several thousand locals who are trying to find the right parts among the waste. From completely faulty devices, they try to extract non-ferrous metals by burning, as a result of which tons of toxins are emitted into the atmosphere. Despite the huge amount of harmful substances emitted by the waste, none of the workers have any means of protection. The average salary of people working at the dump for 12 hours a day is about $ 2 per working day.

This is the largest landfill in the entire world. It is located in the North Pacific Ocean. The main garbage taken out here is plastic. The area of this gigantic landfill is about 6 thousand square kilometers. Toxins released by decaying waste poison both animals and humans. Basically, marine life suffers from the overgrown landfill, among which there are a lot of mammals: whales and dolphins. The archipelago in the area where garbage is dumped is incompatible with the life of living organisms. However, a large number of people come to the islands who want to find something useful there. For many of them, this is their only source of income.

New Landfill, New York

Once in this largest metropolis there was an old giant landfill, where waste from all over the city was taken. In 2001, the old landfill was closed and a new one was opened in its place the same year. 13,000 tons of waste is dumped daily at a huge landfill. The New York dump even has its own local attractions, for example, a huge mountain of garbage 25 meters high. There are not as many tramps in this dump as in Grye.

Puente Hills, Los Angeles

8,000 tons of rubbish per day and several thousand trucks full of rubbish daily. Quite a lot for the city of angels and the sun, given, for example, that in neighboring Canada the largest landfill in terms of area is half the size of Puente Hills in. For extreme tourists, this is not the most attractive dump, because there are almost no people here.