Welcome to one of the seven wonders of the 757: Mount Trashmore.

With over 1 million visitors each year, Mount Trashmore is one of the most popular attractions in Virginia Beach.

But why the unusual name?

Because we're standing on a giant pile of trash.

We're watching our waste today on "Spotlight Earth."

(bright music) So how did this old landfill become a beautiful park?

Well, Mount Trashmore has a fascinating backstory.

In the early 1950s, the site was a landfill used for dumping waste from the city and surrounding areas.

Over time, the landfill reached its capacity.

And by the 1960s, the location was an eyesore, not to mention a potential environmental concern.

In the early '70s, city officials came up with a visionary idea to transform the former landfill into recreational space.

They capped the landfill with a layer of clean soil and topped it with grass, creating two large grassy hills.

The project aimed to not only address the waste problem, but to provide the community with a much-needed parkland and recreational opportunities.

The top of Mount Trashmore is the highest point in Virginia Beach.

We're about 10 miles from the ocean front.

And if it weren't for those trees, we'd see the beach from here.

And it's the perfect spot to talk trash.

That's the topic of today's episode.

And we're getting help from Hales, who's in the studio, ready to drop more knowledge on us.

Hey Hales.

Hey Ellen.

Thanks for getting us off to a great start at Mount Trashmore.

Did you know you can find out a lot about someone by the trash they produce?

Take mine, for example.

Here's an old T-shirt.

It means I'm finally ready to let go of my high school glory days.

And this old smartphone.

Well, I was due for an upgrade and had to get the latest tech.

Here's an empty water bottle.

I forgot to fill up my nondisposable water bottle in my rush to make it to call-time for the shoot, but I had to stay hydrated.

That's the story of the trash that I have.

But what's the story of the trash once I take it to the curb?

Until I started researching this episode, I actually didn't know.

Municipal waste is the everyday trash we produce at home, school, and businesses.

It includes things like food scraps, packaging, paper, plastic and more.

Around half of our municipal solid wastes go to landfills, while some of it is recycled or composted, and some is combusted for energy or removed through other processes.

Landfills are carefully designed to protect the environment.

The first thing you'll see is a liner at the bottom, which is like a giant plastic sheet.

When it rains, the water mixes with the trash and creates a yucky liquid called leachate.

This leachate can have chemicals from the waste, and we need to be careful to keep it from polluting the soil and water around the landfill.

Next, as we throw our garbage into the landfill, it gets compacted to make more space for more trash.

As the trash piles up, layers of soil or special cover material are added on top to keep everything contained and reduce smells.

Another way we manage the odor is through pipes inside of the landfill that collect the methane.

You see, decomposers or tiny living organisms like bacteria and fungi release methane, which can be used to generate energy.

Finally, when the landfill is full, it gets covered with more soil and plants to restore its beauty and make it safe for our surroundings.

Even though landfills might not be the most glamorous places and their chemistry produces gross odors and juices, it's essential to learn about these processes to keep our environment clean and safe.

For more on landfills and how we can lessen their impact on our lives, let's head back to Mount Trashmore and Ellen.

Thanks, Hales.

Landfills are one solution to our massive amount of waste, but they can cause a lot of environmental issues.

Solid waste can release gases like methane into the air.

Methane is a greenhouse gas.

It traps heat in the atmosphere.

If the structure of the landfill is compromised, chemicals produced in the landfill can seep into the ground and surrounding areas.

And the buildup of solid waste attracts rodents, flies, and pathogens.

So what can we do to reduce these issues?

We can reduce our waste by following the four R's of waste management: reduce, reuse, recover, and recycle.

Reducing means trying to use less stuff in the first place.

By being mindful of what we buy and consume, we reduce the amount of waste we produce.

We can use both sides of a sheet of paper instead of just one.

Or use a refillable water bottle instead of single throwaway plastic bottles.

Reusing means finding ways to use things again and again instead of throwing them away after one use.

Like the plastic container your smoothie bowl comes in, you can reuse it to store snacks or leftovers.

And how about old clothes?

I think Hale's T-shirt from high school would be a great cleaning rag.

Recovering involves finding ways to get value from our waste.

Food scraps, for instance, can be turned into compost, which is excellent for the soil and helps plants grow.

Other waste can be used to generate energy, like burning trash to produce electricity.

Recycling is when we take certain materials, like paper, plastic, glass, and metal, and turn them into new products.

It's like giving old things a new life.

By recycling, we save resources and energy and helps us keep our environment cleaner.

With more on recycling, we turn to our "Spotlight Earth" cohost, Jarrell, who is at the West Neck Recycling Center.

And I'm joined by Michael Benedetto, who is the President and Owner of TFC Recycling.

Thanks for joining us today, Michael.

It's my pleasure, really, to be here today.

Thank you.

What services does TFC offer to cities and its citizens?

So our primary service that we provide to cities is residential recycling collection, where we're running trucks that will go out and collect recycling from households.

And we will bring this material back to our facility here, and we'll separate out the paper from the bottles and cans, and then sell it to turn it into some great new recycled products.

Nice.

How does the stuff that we put in our recycling bins work through your systems and eventually end up as new products?

Well, it's really cool.

The trucks come back and they dump.

And then we run it across a number of conveyors, mechanical screens, optical sorters, magnets, and actually some cameras that sit over a conveyor belt that detect the material down below, optical sorting units.

And it's really neat.

It's very automated.

It's very sophisticated.

And really, it's just a great benefit to help us in separating out that material.

So after we collect it, then we separate it out, we put it into a tractor trailer, and then we will send that to companies.

And one of the great things is that in Virginia, there are a number of paper mills that will be buying the paper that we are producing.

A lot of the plastics might go to some textile mills down in the Carolinas, along with glass and aluminum cans and steel cans will go to other companies to be made back into some great new products.

Very cool.

So how does this benefit, say, local communities like Virginia Beach?

So a city like Virginia Beach will have two carts at their houses; and residents, every day, with the material that they are putting into a container, can make a difference by recycling.

And in a city like Virginia Beach, we then can reduce the burden going to a landfill and make new products, creating new jobs, and doing something great for the environment.

So what are some of the challenges that you face running a recycling company?

We do and invest a lot into education and outreach, but trying to get people to start smart and recycle right.

And that is a list of what can be placed in the recycling bin.

When wrong items go into the recycling bin, it drives up our costs and the cost to the community members, because they're putting something in the container that we manually have to pull out and then dispose of.

So we have a saying: When on doubt, throw it out.

And once it comes back to our facility, we will then separate out to these various commodities.

One of the challenges we can run into is it's a commodity, and commodity prices can go up and it can go down.

So we're always doing something with it, but it can make our business model a little bit more challenging if we don't have that commodity price at that right level.

So is there an easy way for us, when we're recycling, for us to remember things to put in the bin and not to put in the bin?

Sure.

We try and simplify it for folks.

Paper, bottles, and cans are the three things that we ask for, and that's 95% of what we take.

So if it's paper and it tears and there's no food or moisture and it's not contaminated, that's great.

Bottles need to be empty.

And then containers, if you can pour it down the drain, you're okay with it.

So we want to avoid pesticides and motor oils.

But food and beverage bottles and cans are great.

We also accept milk jugs.

And we also accept aseptic cartons, which are the milk and orange juice containers, and also little ones you can stick your straw in.

So that is an acceptable item too.

Okay, so what would be the bigger-picture benefits of recycling for our society?

So recycling is the best way to handle trash.

If you're going to generate it, the best thing to do is to turn it into a new product.

Right.

And recycling saves energy.

It's sustainable.

It reduces your carbon footprint, which also helps with changing climates and also rising sea levels.

So in our area, in particular, with all the challenges we have with rising sea levels, recycling is an easy way for people to do their part every day to make an impact for our next generation.

Thanks so much again for your time, Michael, and sharing your mission with us.

Thank you.

Absolutely.

We're gonna send it back to Ellen at Mount Trashmore to wrap things up.

Thanks, Jarrell.

We haven't wasted a moment in sharing this very important information with you.

The mountains of waste we create every day don't always have an idyllic solution like Mount Trashmore.

So best to really think about how we consume, and reduce our waste by following the four R's.

Thanks for watching.

See you next time on "Spotlight Earth."

(light music)