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Blah blah blah this is fun...Disposing of waste in a landfill is one of the most traditional method of waste disposal, and it remains a common practice in most countries. Historically, landfills were often established in disused [[quarry|quarries]], [[mining]] voids or [[borrow pit]]s. A properly-designed and well-managed landfill can be a hygienic and relatively inexpensive method of disposing of waste materials in a way that minimises their impact on the local environment. Older, poorly-designed or poorly-managed landfills can create a number of adverse environmental impacts such as wind-blown [[litter]], attraction of [[vermin]], and generation of [[leachate]] where result of rain percolating through the waste and reacting with the products of decomposition, chemicals and other materials in the waste to produce the leachate which can [[pollution|pollute]] [[groundwater]] and surface water. Another byproduct of landfills is [[landfill gas]] (mostly composed of [[methane]] and [[carbon dioxide]]), which is produced as organic waste breaks down [[Anaerobic digestion|anaerobically]]. This gas can create odor problems, kill surface vegetation, and is a [[greenhouse gas]].
Design characteristics of a modern landfill include methods to contain leachate, such as clay or plastic lining material. Disposed waste is normally compacted to increase its density and stablise the new landform, and covered to prevent attracting [[vermin]] (such as [[mice]] or [[rats]]) and reduce the amount of wind-blown litter. Many landfills also have a landfill gas extraction system installed after closure to extract the [[landfill gas]] generated by the decomposing waste materials. Gas is pumped out of the landfill using perforated pipes and flared off or burnt in a [[gas engine]] to generate [[electricity]]. Even flaring the gas is a better environmental outcome than allowing it to escape to the atmosphere, as this consumes the methane, which is a far more potent [[greenhouse gas]] than carbon dioxide.
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