Sanitary landfills can be defined in various ways and each definition differentiate in the degree of isolation

and means of accomplishing it, as well as in the requirements for monitoring and closing the fill and in maintaining
the fill after its active life. In industrialized nations, the degree of isolation required usually is much more complete
than would be practical in developing nations. Generally it is the call for the isolation of the landfilled wastes from the
environment until the wastes are rendered innocuous through the biological, chemical, and physical processes of
nature. A sanitary landfill is a place or a piece of land where all the waste are impounded. Furthermore, in a sanitary
landfill is the deposited site where hazardous and non-hazardous materials are stored for decomposing. A sanitary
landfill use heavy earth-moving equipment to compress waste materials and then cover them with soil. This practice
is early used by the Greek civilization where they cover up their waste with land. A well-designed engineering
methods to protect the environment from contamination by solid or liquid wastes in need in every sanitary landfill. A
necessary condition in designing a sanitary landfill is the availability of vacant land that is accessible to the
community being served and has the capacity to handle several years of waste material. In addition, cover soil must
be available.
In order to be designated a sanitary landfill, a disposal site must meet the following three general but basic
conditions. First is the compaction of the wastes, next is the daily covering of the wastes with soil or other material
that can be used to cover up the waste this is to remove them from the influence of the outside environment. And
finally the control and prevention of negative impacts on the public health and on the environment such as the odors,
contaminated water supplies and other considerations. Yet the most important condition is the prevention of negative
impacts on public health and the environment. The basic design and operating aspects of a sanitary landfill in terms
of routes of impact outside the fill and of meeting the three basic conditions.
An alternative to a sanitary landfill is the act of composting. Composting is a well-established method for
stabilizing and sanitizing biomaterials and its application as a major treatment technique in waste management is
expanding rapidly in response to new legislation aimed at reducing landfill disposal of biodegradable wastes.
Composting is the microbial degradation of organic solid material that involves aerobic respiration and generally
includes a thermophilic stage. The main products of the aerobic microbiological transformation of putrescible, bulky
organic waste are CO, and a humus-like material which is comprised primarily of stable, lignocellulose compounds.
Home composting (HC) is traditionally considered as a horticultural recreational activity. However, more
recently, it has been identified as a potential major opportunity for managing part of the domestic biodegradable
waste stream, to minimize the amount of waste collected for landfill disposal. A unique aspect of this approach is that
homeowners take responsibility for treating and recycling their biodegradable waste. Many factors influence the
effectiveness of this approach, but encouraging homeowners to participate in HC schemes has major potential
advantages in providing a low cost approach to waste management and facilitating the sustainable recycling of
biodegradable organic waste.
Home composting is a potentially unique waste management practice in that it offers the only means by which the
producer can be the processor as well as the end-user of the recycled product.
Humans continue to generate more waste. To change this alarming trend, strong political and industrial
measures are urgently needed. Despite what industry and governments would like people to believe, incineration is
not a solution to the world's waste problems, but part of the problem. Incinerators may reduce the volume of solid
waste, but they do not dispose of the toxic substances contained in the waste. They create the largest source of
dioxins, which is one of the most toxic chemicals known to science. Incinerators emit a wide range of pollutants in
their stack gases, ashes and other residues. The filters used to clean incinerator stack gases produce solid and liquid
toxic wastes, which also need to be disposed. The only way to improve the situation is to avoid toxic waste
production by improving our products and processes.