Challenge Introduction

Waste doesn’t disappear when you throw it away. It’s burned or buried, and both choices come with real consequences. In this challenge, you’ll learn how incineration and landfills actually work, what they release into the environment, why different countries rely on one system over the other, and how waste reduction and smarter material use can shift the whole picture. By the end, you’ll understand the full journey of your waste and how your own habits can meaningfully reduce pressure on these systems.

Learning Goals

Understand how incineration transforms waste and produces usable energy
Compare environmental impacts of burning waste versus burying it
Explain why countries choose different waste-management systems

Recognize how engineered landfills store waste and generate methane
Identify long-term pollution risks from emissions, leachate, and landfill gases
Evaluate how waste reduction and recycling reduce pressure on both systems.

How We Handle Waste

You’ll explore what happens to waste after it leaves your bin, comparing the two dominant systems the world relies on: incineration and landfilling. You’ll see how each method works, what happens to the material during the process, and why different countries make different choices. This module gives you the foundation you need before looking at environmental impacts later in the challenge.

Complete these tasks:

How Incinerating Waste Works

Read • 5 mins

Start

How Landfills Work

Read • 5 mins

Start

The Impact Behind Disposal Choices

You explore why different countries rely on incineration or landfilling and how their decisions shape environmental outcomes. You also learn how smarter design, reuse, and waste reduction can shrink the need for both disposal systems and move society toward a cleaner, lower-waste future.