Why is recycling better than sending rubbish to landfills and incinerators?

At TerraCycle, we’re on a mission to eliminate the idea of waste. That’s why we advocate for reuse and less consumption—and why we create recycling solutions for hard-to-recycle waste streams. We imagine a future where our recycling programs aren’t even needed.

To work toward solving the waste crisis, we need to start seeing disposability as a problem, not a convenience. Did you know that only a small percentage of the waste we produce is recycled or composted, leaving the rest of it to end up in landfills and incinerators? These landfills are doing more damage than you may know: 

1. Australia has more than 1,000 landfills, taking around 20 million tonnes of waste each year (that’s about 2,000 times heavier than the Eiffel Tower!) In NSW the only landfill accepting contaminated waste is predicted to be full in 2031, straining our resources.

2. Landfills impact local wildlife. Some species of birds even feed from landfills, ingesting things like plastic and aluminium. 

3. As landfills break down they produce “leachate”, a liquid that accumulates contaminants that can be highly toxic. Without proper barriers beneath or around landfills, leachate can end up in surface and subsurface water. 

4. Waste is tightly packed in landfills and is sealed under clay and rubber barriers. Landfills are really only designed to store waste, not break it down. Because the waste is packed together so tightly, it doesn’t receive a lot of oxygen, causing it to break down slower than it otherwise would. The lack of oxygen also creates bacteria that produce methane gas, a major contributor to global warming. 

If rubbish isn’t being recycled, composted, or sent to landfills it’s probably being incinerated—which isn’t a better option. No matter what is being burned, incineration creates harmful chemicals and pollutants like particulate matter, heavy metals, PFAS, and dioxins. These pollutants can get into the air, water, and our food supply. 

While incineration can be used to convert waste to energy, recycling materials saves more energy than incineration can produce. Recycling is generally also more cost-efficient than incineration.

Recycling keeps rubbish out of landfills and incinerators, conserves natural resources like timber, water, and minerals, and saves energy. When you’re ready to get rid of an item, consider the difference you can make by disposing of it in a sustainable way. Recycling isn’t the only option —donating, selling, upcycling, and composting are other great, sustainable ways to get rid of items you no longer use. 

Encouraging those around you to try to reduce, reuse, and recycle can also help make a difference. If something can’t be recycled by your council’s recycling service, like chip bags, beauty products, and #6 plastics, you can recycle it through TerraCycle! 

It’s not too late to make a difference, but we all need to contribute: businesses, governments, organisations, and people like you. We must all do our part to keep rubbish out of landfills and incinerators.