Send waste plastic to landfill

Landfill site in the Caribbean

This is one of the most basic ways of managing waste. Sending plastic to landfill is a solution to preventing plastic pollution entering the ocean

52 million tonnes of waste was sent to landfill in the UK in 2016

Source

Benefits

  • Prevents plastic ending up in waterways or the ocean

Challenges

  • There is not enough room for us to bury all the plastic we use
  • Plastic can leach chemicals into the groundwater if the landfill liner is breached
  • Badly managed landfills can lead to waste escaping into the environment and ocean

Making a difference

Waste disposed of at landfills declined by 1 million tonnes in 2016/17 in comparison to the previous financial year, taking it down to 4.1 million tonnes

There are hundreds of other ways to solve plastic pollution

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Photo Credit: Sara Mirabilio