04/01/2025
It's time to think ahead about how we deal with 16 billion gallons of leachate created in the U.S. each year. Because as Bob Dylan sang, The Times, They Are A-Changin'.
➡️ Landfill leachate isn't just the nasty liquid left after rain and snowmelt seep through the waste — it's a growing regulatory and environmental challenge that is only becoming more complex.
🤢 Contaminants like PFAS, carcinogens, heavy metals, chlorides and others are found in leachate from all the junk that people throw away and allowing leachate to get into our environment is a serious health hazard.
🚛 Typically, landfills collect the leachate and truck it to wastewater treatment plants which turn around and dilute it and send it into our environment. But more plants are refusing leachate. The days of diluting leachate and releasing it into the environment area coming to an end.
We're coming to a bit of a fork in the road: If landfills stay the course, they may be stuck with tons of leachate and nowhere to bring it (putting communities and our environment at risk). Or chart a new path where they adapt to the times — when regulations are ever-changing — and implement systems that grow with the changes.
Where is your landfill located on its journey? Are you taking a wait-and-see approach? Or do you want to get ahead of these issues and be proactive?
