How Trash Gets to a Landfill
1) Trash is picked up in a collection truck curbside on trash day. In Cuyahoga County, trash is collected by an automated truck or manually with a packer truck. The automated truck picks up a wheeled cart with a mechanical side-arm and empties the trash into the truck. Trash picked up manually is thrown into a truck by a worker.
3) Trash is scooped up from the transfer station's tipping floor and loaded onto large semi-trailer trucks. When it is full, the semi-trailer passes over a scale and is weighed as it leaves the waste transfer station. The semi transports the trash to a designated landfill.
4) The semi arrives at the landfill and passes over another a scale. At the working face of the landfill, the trash is pushed out of the truck by walking floors or lifting the trailer bed (pictured). The empty semi-trailer is weighed one last time on the way out.
5) At the working face, the dumped trash is moved around by bulldozers and compactors to maximize space in the landfill. A layer of dirt is used to cover the trash at the end of every day.
6) The landfill operators maintain the site in a variety of ways. The landfill has a fence to keep people out, but also to prevent litter from blowing off site. Since a landfill has dirt roads, the operators must water the roads on hot, dry days to prevent flying dust and debris.