Is Landfilling Always A Bad Thing?

William Thompson & Son • 21 December 2021

It's universally thought that landfills are bad. We’re told again and again to recycle properly to prevent rubbish from ending up in a landfill, where it will never decompose and spend years polluting the atmosphere with methane, carbon dioxide and more. But are they a completely negative thing all of the time?


Read on to find out some reasons why landfilling isn’t always a bad thing.


Advantages of a Landfill

Landfills work by burying waste in the ground, which is often regarded as simply harming the environment with no benefits. But here are some advantages to landfilling:


Clean Cities

Landfills provide a space for waste to be managed properly, instead of waste being dumped in other locations where it can harm the environment without regulation. It also keeps hazardous waste away from cities, providing a space for it to be dumped far away from the public.


Creates Jobs

An effective landfill will create job opportunities as there is a lot of work and labour needed on a landfill site. This can include sorting waste, operating machinery and more. It can also include jobs off-site, such as management and driving trucks. A landfill can actually be a vital job source to local communities where other opportunities are not readily available.


Cost-Efficient

Having a dedicated site to manage all waste for an area can save transport costs and reduce the emission taken up by many different waste management services driving around moving the waste in smaller vehicles. A landfill will usually use one large vehicle to transport a tonne of waste instead.


Energy Source

The methane, carbon dioxide and other gases produced by landfilling can actually be taken out, filtered and then used for energy production. The release of this gas is only bad when it is released into the atmosphere, so if it is harnessed for other uses instead, it solves the pollution issue.



WM Thompson & Son Ltd

For sustainable landfilling in Dumbarton within reach of Glasgow, get in touch with the team at WM Thompson & Son Ltd. We are a sustainable landfill site that aims to be as responsible with materials as possible, working to efficiently separate any materials at our recycling centre before disposing of any other non-recyclable waste as safely and correctly as possible.


We work closely with the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (S.E.P.A.) to maintain a positive impact on the environment, complying with all regulations and working tirelessly to not have a negative environmental impact.


To find out more about our landfill site, give us a call on 01389 762271 to talk to one of the staff at our family run business who have been working to offer personalised customer service for nearly 100 years. We don’t just run a landfill, so visit our website now to find out more about our recycled aggregates, quarry products and concrete services.

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