Where the stuff goes

My environmental science class took a field trip to the Badlands Sanitary Landfill in Moreno Valley to see where it is that much of our waste goes. My group and I got there a bit later than the tour started because, as we found, the Landfill is in a rather remote part of the city, as makes sense, and we got lost. When we did arrive there was still much to see. The first thing that we saw was where certain types of waste were sorted; mainly what is considered 'e-waste' such as T.V.s, computers, cell phones, etc. Many elements in these items are toxic and must be treated with care to prevent polluting soil and groundwater. There was also an area where refrigerators were completely dismantled. Our guide explained that there were pallets of e-waste that were going to be sold to the highest bidder so long as the bidder has regulations for proper disposal (meaning it wouldn't go to China where they have terrible regulations). There are elements in e-waste such as copper that are valuable and that is why they can be sold to profit the landfill. Next we went to what I think is my favorite area. Under the ground of the landfills there are large hollow tubes that collect the ethanol emitted. The ethanol is then directed to an engine that burns it creating energy that is then sold to energy companies. After we went to see where all the trash was being compacted using large machinery. Thus went our trip to the Landfill, something I think everyone should do so that they know their trash doesn't just disappear with the trash trucks.