National Parks Conservation Association

Every year, visitors to U.S. national parks generate more than 100 million pounds of waste — enough to fill the Statue of Liberty 1,800 times, according to the National Parks Conservation Association. What makes up this tremendous waste stream? More importantly, are there ways to divert more of it from unsustainable, methane-emitting landfills and into carbon-zero systems?

The U.S. National Park Service (NPS) faces a waste management quandary: it aims for a zero-landfill future, yet visitors deposit over 100 million pounds of waste there every year. To avoid sending enormous loads of trash to the dump, the NPS must find ways to recycle, reuse, and compost as much waste as possible. And even with major challenges, such as existing in remote, rural locations, the NPS is well on its way to eliminating its reliance on landfills. Here's how they're doing it.