Enough garbage cans?

The 2022 Global Waste Index, ranked the biggest waste-producing nations in the world. South Korea, Denmark, Germany were the top 3 among the best, that is, the least dirty. France was ranked 14th while the US stood at the 25th spot in a field of 38 ranked nations. Canada was the worst as 31st and Turkey dead last.

The above picture shows how some households in Park City contribute to America’s dirty label. The five gray trash cans pictured here contain 16 gallons (60 liters) and the two large brown ones are used for recycling. In our household (2 people) we only use one of each and although we empty it weekly, it would take 3 to 4 month to fill it with household waste! 

Eight months out of the year, we also compost our green waste. Needless to say that we wonder how a single family house like that one can use so many waste containers… Our landfill for Park City and Summit County is located in Three Mile Canyon, and as I write this, it’s almost at capacity. 

The landfill processes about 42,000 to 52,000 tons of waste each year. It only has about 80,000 tons of capacity remaining. Where will the refuse go when it’s filled up?