Solid waste is the environmental term for garbage, trash, scrap, junk, and sewage. On the average, a United states citizen discards about 3.5 pounds of solid waste every day. In 1978 the United States had about 20,000 landfills because eighty percent of all solid waste is dumped in landfills. Almost all industrial waste is disposed of by means of private facilities rather than municipal landfills. Approximately 20 percent of industrial solid waste is associated with the production and use of oil and gas, while another 12 percent comes from mining.
Municipal waste makes up about one percent of the total.
An interesting fact worldwide, is that solid waste tends to increase with the level of economic. Large cities in industrial countries, such as New York, produce 3.0 to 4.0 pounds per day. This supports the suggestion that the U.S. has become an increasingly wasteful society. Solid waste is one of the environmental concerns that is receiving the most attention by the public. Later in this paper various solutions and actions people are taking to combat this problem will be discussed.