Landfills have been considered the most convenient approach for dealing with waste from time immemorial, even though some have led to disasters of catastrophic proportions. Moreover, recent findings by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) suggest that the decomposing fraction of landfill waste that generates greenhouse gases (GHGs) may not be adequately accounted for and could become a critical issue in our effort to restrict atmospheric temperature increases to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. (According to the IPCC, the maximum atmospheric temperature rise is a factor of cumulative net CO₂ emissions as well as net non-CO₂ radiative forcing. These anthropogenic forcing agents include methane, nitrous oxide and other trace gases from landfill sites. In that sense, landfills can tip the balance from 1.5 towards 2 degrees of warming). This paper draws on data from a number of countries for review and is a timely reminder that society needs to develop a more environmentally and socially sensitive set of methods that could ultimately replace landfills. The paper first examines problems connected with landfills and evaluates alternatives such as incineration, biomass burning and mechanical biological treatment, which generally present their own problems. The paper then considers the range of materials conventionally dispatched to landfill, dealing with them in the context of a zero-waste philosophy. The conclusions propose more disciplined waste management to embrace collective accountability, wherein those who create the waste—chiefly, households and businesses—would be expected to deal with it responsibly. With attitudinal changes and education, supported by regulatory measures, it should be possible to reach the long-term objective of zero waste and the retirement of the traditional landfill.

中文翻译：

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垃圾填埋场、废物和几乎被遗忘的与气候变化的联系的回顾

自古以来，垃圾填埋场一直被认为是处理垃圾的最便捷方法，尽管有些垃圾填埋场导致了灾难性的灾难。此外，国际气候变化专门委员会 (IPCC) 最近的调查结果表明，垃圾填埋场垃圾中产生温室气体 (GHG) 的分解部分可能没有得到充分考虑，并可能成为我们努力将大气温度升高限制在比工业化前水平高 1.5 °C。（根据IPCC，最大的大气温度上升是累积净CO的因子₂排放以及净非CO ₂辐射强迫。这些人为强迫因子包括来自垃圾填埋场的甲烷、一氧化二氮和其他微量气体。从这个意义上说，垃圾填埋场可以将温度从 1.5 度倾斜到 2 度）。本文借鉴了一些国家的数据进行审查，及时提醒社会需要开发一套对环境和社会更加敏感的方法，最终可以取代垃圾填埋场。该论文首先研究了与垃圾填埋场有关的问题，并评估了焚烧、生物质燃烧和机械生物处理等替代方案，这些替代方案通常都存在其自身的问题。然后，本文考虑了通常被送往垃圾填埋场的材料范围，并在零废物理念的背景下处理它们。结论提出了更严格的废物管理以接受集体问责制，其中产生废物的人——主要是家庭和企业——应该负责任地处理它。通过态度转变和教育，加上监管措施，应该有可能实现零废物和传统垃圾填埋场退役的长期目标。