When most people think of landfills they think of a giant hole in the ground where trash is collected and overrun by rats, but that is actually a description of a dump. A landfill is a way of keeping waste isolated from the surrounding envrionment, like the air and groundwater. This is done by using a liner and also a daily covering of fresh soil.Historically, landfills have been the most common methods of organized waste disposal and remain so in many places around the world.

Landfills may include internal waste disposal sites (where a producer of waste carries out their own waste disposal at the place of production) as well as sites used by many producers. Many landfills are also used for other waste management purposes, such as the temporary storage, consolidation and transfer, or processing of waste material (sorting, treatment, or recycling).

A landfill also may refer to ground that has been filled in with soil and rocks instead of waste materials, so that it can be used for a specific purpose, such as for building houses. Unless they are stabilized, these areas may experience severe shaking or liquefaction of the ground in a large earthquake.

A number of problems can occur from landfill operations. These impacts can vary: fatal accidents (e.g., scavengers buried under waste piles), infrastructure damage (e.g., damage to access roads by heavy vehicles), pollution of the local environment (such as contamination of groundwater and/or aquifers by leakage and residual soil contamination after landfill closure), injuries to wildlife and simple nuisance problems (e.g., dust, odor, vermin, or noise pollution).

Environmental noise and dust are generated from vehicles accessing a landfill as well as from working face operations. These impacts are best to intercept at the planning stage where access routes and landfill geometrics can be used to mitigate such issues. Vector control is also important, but can be managed reasonably well with the daily cover protocols.

Most modern landfills are operated with controls to manage problems such as these.  However, there are many  environmental issues  that still must be controlled.

Some local authorities have found it difficult to locate new landfills. These authorities may charge a fee or levy in order to discourage waste and/or recover the costs of site operations. Some landfills are operated for profit as commercial businesses. Many landfills, however, are publicly operated and funded. The goal is to cut down on the amount of waste that we are putting into landfills and find another viable solution.