3.1. Land filling
Highest portion of the solid waste including plastics have been
subjected to landfill. However, disposing of the waste to landfill is
becoming undesirable due to legislative pressures (where waste to
landfill must be reduced by 35% over the period from 1995 to
2020), rising costs, the generation of explosive greenhouse gases
(such as methane) and the poor biodegradability of commonly
used packaging polymers [19]. In light of these hazards, the EPA
has improved federal regulations for land filling by normalizing the
use of liners in the landfill bed, ground water testing for waste
leaks, and post landfill closure care; however, since waste plastics
have a high volume to weight ratio, appropriate landfill space is
becoming both scare and expensive. So, the other methods
outlined in Fig. 2 should be preferred as an alternative waste
management procedure to replace land filling