A world of waste

Touring some of the largest landfills and dumps on the planet

Managing solid waste

It’s no small secret—people worldwide are now generating gargantuan amounts of garbage. According to a 2011 World Bank report, the United States alone produces nearly 625,000 metric tons of solid waste every single day. China produces more than 520,000; Brazil and Japan each have nearly 150,000.

Warning! Click the symbol to read more about some of the largest landfills on the planet.

Since 2011, those numbers have only increased. The World Economic Forum has estimated that by 2025, the amount of annual urban waste produced worldwide will be more than three times what it was in 2015. That’s a lot of trash; unfortunately, it must go somewhere.

Poor waste management can have serious ramifications, including environmental pollution and increased risk of illness. But while the need for dump sites may be universal, the forms they take are just the opposite. A variety of factors come together to shape the ultimate outcome, including:

Answers to these questions (and more) vary from country to country, city to city. What follows is a brief look at the diversity of dump sites that have been developed across the globe.

Landfills in the United States

The United States is one of the world’s largest producers of garbage, so it is not surprising that the country possesses a vast, well-developed waste disposal infrastructure.