Municipal Solid Waste Disposal and Landfill Alternatives in the United States
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The Symposium provides undergraduates from all academic disciplines with an opportunity to share their research with the university community and other guests through conference-style oral presentations. The Symposium represents part of a larger effort of Iowa State University to enhance, support, and celebrate undergraduate research activity.
Though coordinated by the University Honors Program, all undergraduate students are eligible and encouraged to participate in the Symposium. Undergraduates conducting research but not yet ready to present their work are encouraged to attend the Symposium to learn about the presentation process and students not currently involved in research are encouraged to attend the Symposium to learn about the broad range of undergraduate research activities that are taking place at ISU.
The first Symposium was held in April 2007. The 39 students who presented research and their mentors collectively represented all of ISU's Colleges: Agriculture and Life Sciences, Business, Design, Engineering, Human Sciences, Liberal Arts and Sciences, Veterinary Medicine, and the Graduate College. The event has grown to regularly include more than 100 students presenting on topics that span the broad range of disciplines studied at ISU.
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Abstract
As the population of the Earth continues to grow exponentially, the question of what to do with all of our generated waste is becoming a major one, especially in the United States. Over the past 250 years, waste management in the U.S. has come a long way, with municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal, recycling, landfills, and other techniques. This report examines the past, present, and future of MSW, including new ways to dispose of waste like landfill mining, solar landfill covers, and waste-to-energy facilities. Our goal is not to say which method of dealing with waste is superior, but to highlight the variety of waste disposal techniques, of which we will have to incorporate many in order to keep ahead of the rapidly rising generated waste in the United States.