Atlanta is one of the largest metropolitan areas and the tenth largest economy in the United States. Thus, it produces tons of waste every day that are safely collected and disposed off, following strict sanitation and waste management protocols.
Most of us just dump our household junk and wait for the weekly pick-up truck to take it away and keep the surroundings clean. But once the trash leaves the neighborhood, it has an exciting journey ahead from it.
In most cases, the trash doesn’t immediately go the nearest landfill. Instead, the truck drops it off at a convenient transfer station. Depending on where you live, your waste might end up at the North Transfer Station or the Doraville Transfer Station.
Transfer stations typically act as an intermediary place where the garbage is temporarily stored before it moves onto the next phase in its long journey. A city may have more than one transfer station, depending on its size, for efficient waste removal.
In fact, a large and bustling city like Atlanta has several well-connected transfer stations, situated at convenient locations so as to minimize the distance traveled by waste management companies. At a transfer station, such as the North Transfer Station located at 4600 Buford Hwy NE, Atlanta, the waste is typically sorted and packed into larger trucks to be taken to the landfill.
Thus, transfer stations typically save fuel and transportation costs, and play a vital role in keeping emissions and pollution levels on the road, relatively low.
Dekalb County Central Transfer Station
The transfer station isn’t the end of the road, though. The waste eventually reaches a landfill where it is carefully sorted.
Landfills have to abide by strict state protocols, and thus not every item can go in it. Thus, before all the waste is dumped, the items need to be meticulously sorted. Items that are deemed as hazardous are usually removed and sent off to a recycling facility, while the others are thrown into the dumping ground.
From the exterior, such a dumping ground may seem like a small hill, but actually the design of a landfill interior is far more complex. Most landfills use a layering system to ensure the safe isolation of the waste and the poisonous by-products created as a result of decomposition. The bottom layer usually has a liner to protect the substances from seeping into the groundwater.
Thus, waste management companies have to invest a lot of careful planning and coordination to ensure that trash pick-up, collection, transfer and dumping take place in a smooth and hassle-free way. They also have to take into account the weight limits, as carrying too much trash through the city, can add to the pollution.
Following the waste management solutions in Atlanta keeps the city tidy and thriving.
