What You Don't Know About Litter and Landfills

What You Don't Know About Litter and Landfills.

The University of Arizona conducted a landfill study and uncovered still-recognizable 25 year old hot dogs, corn cobs and grapes in landfills, as well as 50 year old readable newspapers.

That’s disgusting and disappointing. Typically most landfills are too jammed packed for trash to biodegrade. Landfills are fundamentally anaerobic (without oxygen) because they are compacted so tight that oxygen can’t get in. These are entombed landfills and made this way simply to ensure there is no leaching or run off. Therefore, any biodegradation that does take place happens very slowly. Landfills have very little dirt, limited oxygen, and limited microbial activity once below 6 feet. Biodegradation occurs when trash is broken down by living organisms, (enzymes and microbes) into its fundamental parts, and in turn recycled by nature. Petroleum biodegrades quickly in its original form however, if petroleum is processed into plastic, it is no longer biodegradable; which adds to indefinite landfill overflow. On a positive note… there are a few landfills that were created to promote biodegradation through inserting natural resources such as water, oxygen and even microbes. Obviously these kinds of landfills are costly to develop and maintain.

Landfills are not the biggest problem we have. Litter is a problem. Litter can last hundreds of years. Litter can harm the environment as well as animals in the environment. Over 10 Billion pieces of plastic litter our nation’s roadways…*(KAB - "Keep America Beautiful" 2009 National Visible Litter Survey and Litter Cost Study)

EcoPoly Solutions has reinvented plastics. Our additive, that allows plastics to become oxo-biodegradable, is a solution to many consumers and manufacturers. Oxo-biodegradation has an absolute advantage over other methods for degrading plastic.

Degradation time varies depending on the amount of exposure to accelerating factors such as sunlight, heat, moisture and the levels of microbial activity. This is an ideal situation for consumers. Oxo-biodegradable plastic degrades quickest in the situation we want it to; when it becomes litter. Once it becomes litter it will degrade and ultimately biodegrade in 12 to 60 months.

We have little control of the waste that is continuously piling up in landfills but we have complete control of what products we buy and manufacture to insure when and if it becomes litter it will degrade properly and quickly.