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Why Isn't Landfill Mining More Popular?

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Re: Why Isn't Landfill Mining More Popular?

#21

Post by lm28469 »

bradley13 wrote: post #9

Some years ago, Switzerland completely stopped using landfills. All garbage is incinerated. The resulting slag is then processed to reclaim nearly all metals as well as some other important elements. Of course, the burning creates CO2. However, you don't have to mine and refine metal ores, and the incinerators also generate electricity and district heating. So the ecological balance is actually pretty good. As a fina…

> Of course, the burning creates CO2

When burning trash CO2 is way down the list of things I worry about personally.

Re: Why Isn't Landfill Mining More Popular?

#22

Post by ponector »

WirelessGigabit wrote: post #12
bradley13 wrote: post #9

Some years ago, Switzerland completely stopped using landfills. All garbage is incinerated. The resulting slag is then processed to reclaim nearly all metals as well as some other important elements. Of course, the burning creates CO2. However, you don't have to mine and refine metal ores, and the incinerators also generate electricity and district heating. So the ecological balance is actually pretty good. As a fina…

The US has way too much space for incineration to become more cost-effective than just dumping it in a giant hole in the ground.

Could be true for small cities. But try to find an empty space suitable for landfill near NYC.

Re: Why Isn't Landfill Mining More Popular?

#23

Post by grogenaut »

kulahan wrote: post #14
bradley13 wrote: post #9

Some years ago, Switzerland completely stopped using landfills. All garbage is incinerated. The resulting slag is then processed to reclaim nearly all metals as well as some other important elements. Of course, the burning creates CO2. However, you don't have to mine and refine metal ores, and the incinerators also generate electricity and district heating. So the ecological balance is actually pretty good. As a fina…

The technology of landfills has massively improved over the years. It's not the old pile of garbage covered in birds forever; they turn them into parks and whatnot. It's probably worth looking up, because there's some cool scientific advancements behind it. I'm pulling this next sentence completely out of my ass, but I also imagine it would be convenient, once we develop bacteria to break this stuff down in an enviro…

I'm super excited for all the plastic in the world and all the devices that we use everyday to rot because we developed a bacteria that eats it and now your iPhone internals have an infection and your phone just disintegrates and the steering wheel falls off your car

Re: Why Isn't Landfill Mining More Popular?

#24

Post by Solvency »

WirelessGigabit wrote: post #12
bradley13 wrote: post #9

Some years ago, Switzerland completely stopped using landfills. All garbage is incinerated. The resulting slag is then processed to reclaim nearly all metals as well as some other important elements. Of course, the burning creates CO2. However, you don't have to mine and refine metal ores, and the incinerators also generate electricity and district heating. So the ecological balance is actually pretty good. As a fina…

The US has way too much space for incineration to become more cost-effective than just dumping it in a giant hole in the ground.

Until you go to your local landfill and see the massive fuming hellscape spanning thousands of acres with mountains of garbage just laying there and mentally extrapolate how it will look even 10 more years from now.

Re: Why Isn't Landfill Mining More Popular?

#25

Post by rTX5CMRXIfFG »

bradley13 wrote: post #9

Some years ago, Switzerland completely stopped using landfills. All garbage is incinerated. The resulting slag is then processed to reclaim nearly all metals as well as some other important elements. Of course, the burning creates CO2. However, you don't have to mine and refine metal ores, and the incinerators also generate electricity and district heating. So the ecological balance is actually pretty good. As a fina…

How come the slag is far less problematic? You didn’t describe where it goes.

I also don’t see the “ecological balance” here. That usually refers to relationships among organisms in an ecosystem where one’s waste is another’s sustenance, but where does the generated CO2 go? Or did you mean a trade-off of pollution?

Re: Why Isn't Landfill Mining More Popular?

#26

Post by gruez »

bradley13 wrote: post #9

Some years ago, Switzerland completely stopped using landfills. All garbage is incinerated. The resulting slag is then processed to reclaim nearly all metals as well as some other important elements. Of course, the burning creates CO2. However, you don't have to mine and refine metal ores, and the incinerators also generate electricity and district heating. So the ecological balance is actually pretty good. As a fina…

>you don't have literal square miles of landfills that occupy land

Land area is a non-issue. Google says Switzerland produces "80 to 90 million tonnes" of garbage per year. Assuming that garbage has the same density of water, and a landfill is 10 meters deep, a 1 sq mi landfill will last 287 years. Moreover, Wikipedia says Switzerland has 15,940 square miles of land, so that will only take up 0.006% of the country's land area.

>eventually will leak lovely chemicals into groundwater

this is a non-issue in modern landfills because they're designed with various mechanisms to prevent that from happening (eg. lining).

Re: Why Isn't Landfill Mining More Popular?

#27

Post by gruez »

Solvency wrote: post #24
WirelessGigabit wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US has way too much space for incineration to become more cost-effective than just dumping it in a giant hole in the ground.

Until you go to your local landfill and see the massive fuming hellscape spanning thousands of acres with mountains of garbage just laying there and mentally extrapolate how it will look even 10 more years from now.

>and mentally extrapolate how it will look even 10 more years from now.

I did some napkin math and concluded that it's a non-issue. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38407111

Re: Why Isn't Landfill Mining More Popular?

#28

Post by rTX5CMRXIfFG »

grogenaut wrote: post #23
kulahan wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The technology of landfills has massively improved over the years. It's not the old pile of garbage covered in birds forever; they turn them into parks and whatnot. It's probably worth looking up, because there's some cool scientific advancements behind it. I'm pulling this next sentence completely out of my ass, but I also imagine it would be convenient, once we develop bacteria to break this stuff down in an enviro…

I'm super excited for all the plastic in the world and all the devices that we use everyday to rot because we developed a bacteria that eats it and now your iPhone internals have an infection and your phone just disintegrates and the steering wheel falls off your car

Would you do me a kindness and let me know later if sarcasm gets through people who can’t care about the environment a bit more than their own consumption? I’ve tried reason but it never works.

Re: Why Isn't Landfill Mining More Popular?

#29

Post by SpaceNoodled »

ianlevesque wrote: post #18
kulahan wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The technology of landfills has massively improved over the years. It's not the old pile of garbage covered in birds forever; they turn them into parks and whatnot. It's probably worth looking up, because there's some cool scientific advancements behind it. I'm pulling this next sentence completely out of my ass, but I also imagine it would be convenient, once we develop bacteria to break this stuff down in an enviro…

> once we develop bacteria to break this stuff down in an environmentally friendly way Sounds as mythical as plastic recycling to me to be honest.

Microorganisms are already evolving to consume plastics.

https://www.wsl.ch/en/news/searching-for-plastic-gobblers-in...

Re: Why Isn't Landfill Mining More Popular?

#30

Post by Am4TIfIsER0ppos »

grogenaut wrote: post #23
kulahan wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The technology of landfills has massively improved over the years. It's not the old pile of garbage covered in birds forever; they turn them into parks and whatnot. It's probably worth looking up, because there's some cool scientific advancements behind it. I'm pulling this next sentence completely out of my ass, but I also imagine it would be convenient, once we develop bacteria to break this stuff down in an enviro…

I'm super excited for all the plastic in the world and all the devices that we use everyday to rot because we developed a bacteria that eats it and now your iPhone internals have an infection and your phone just disintegrates and the steering wheel falls off your car

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