The Making of a Modern Landfill
The scene you might picture when you hear the word “landfill” is a thing of the past. Today’s landfills are sophisticated, engineered structures that contribute to environmental safety and sustainability. Beyond being safe places to store waste, they are often sources of renewable energy and frequently serve new purposes after closure. Landfills are filled over many decades and are monitored for decades after closure. Therefore, Waste Management takes a long-term view of these sites, ensuring that we mitigate potential impacts and keep communities safe and secure for generations to come.

Thousands of pumps, valves, blowers and flares are required for the safe management of modern landfills. Ongoing collection of data from these assets, often collected by checking meters positioned throughout landfill sites, is essential for landfills’ safe operation.
A new system known as Connected Landfills simplifies this work, equipping landfill assets with internet-connected devices and sensors. Technicians are able to review data remotely via dashboards on mobile devices, allowing them to monitor changes, make decisions and even directly interact with equipment with the push of a button. With less time spent in transit, landfill employees will be able to spend more time managing landfills’ productivity and health. Based on its success, we plan to expand our use of this technology to other sites. Learn more about how Waste Management operates landfills safely and sustainably and helps grow our industry’s base of knowledge on this topic.