The US produces the most solid waste per person in the world. Both are major non-point sources of air and water pollution. Toxic wastes create special problems. Sanitary landfills containment and compaction reduce groundwater contamination and disease. Space around cities can be a major problem, leading them to export their wastes.
Incineration uses energy and produces air pollution, residual ash.
Energy recovery - an interesting use of waste to produce heat and energy. Most cities have banned yard wastes from landfills. They do not decompose well without oxygen, filling up landfills while removing nutrients from the land. In past dumped in landfills, ocean, held on site in tanks, poured down the drain, etc. Then the EPA is empowered to bring suit to recover costs.