While watching the truck pull away with a load of trash from your dumpster, have you ever had a second thought about where it is going? No? That’s okay, most people don’t. However, learning more about your garbage’s journey could help you find better ways to reduce waste!
The Process of Trash: From Dumpster to Landfill
The trash cycle starts when the truck arrives at your site. Most garbage trucks which handle dumpsters use a mechanical front loader which garbage haulers attach to the sides of dumpsters. After a dumpster is secured to the loader, it is then lifted over the cab and dumped directly into the truck’s hopper.
Once the dumpster is empty, the front loader lowers it to the ground, and the workers detach it from the truck. The truck then compresses the load using a hydraulically powered press to compact the garbage against the back of the hopper. At the end of the day’s route, or when the truck is full, the hopper must be unloaded at a transfer station or landfill.
Although a landfill is the ultimate destination for your trash, the closest one may be a significant distance away. In order to get the garbage truck back on its route faster, the truck may drop off its load at a transfer station. A transfer station is a collection point for garbage. It is a place where workers can weigh, sort and store the garbage until a big rig hauls the trash to the landfill and recyclables to the recycling center.
Even when the trash finally reaches the landfill, there is still a lot of work to do. First, the trucks are weighed to ensure there is enough space in the landfill to accommodate the amount of trash being carried into in the landfill. After that, trucks cart the trash to the section of the landfill which is currently accepting garbage. This area of the landfill is called the “open cell.” After dumping the garbage in the open cell, compactors drive over it to compact it as much as possible. The process continues until the open cell is full. That is when bulldozers close the cell by covering it and then dig another open cell. And that is where your garbage will stay for hundreds or thousands of years.
Debris Box is proud to serve the residents of San Diego, National City and the entire unincorporated areas in San Diego County. Debris Box provides dumpster rentals and waste disposal solutions for commercial and residential customers. Whether you need a regular or specialized dumpster, Debris Box can help. Call us at 619-284-9245 to talk with a customer service agent.
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