NYC’s landfills will soon overflow — expanding them invites health risks

In as little as 16 years, New York City will have to find new places to dump its trash.

1 minute read

October 6, 2026, 6:00 AM PDT

By Zachary Whalen


A worker supervises the dumping of waste at a landfill.

Landfills emit hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, gases that can cause eye irritation and coughing. | massimo1g

New York City’s trash will exceed its landfill capacity within 16 to 25 years, according to the latest draft of the city’s solid waste management plan. The majority of the city’s waste is sent to landfills hundreds of miles away, such as the Seneca Meadows landfill: its attempts to expand has brought opposition from the surrounding neighborhoods. 

“As landfills expand, they generate more methane, a greenhouse gas 86 times more potent than carbon dioxide in the near term. The Seneca Meadows landfill is the single largest source of methane emissions in New York state,” Lauren Dalban writes for Inside Climate News.

Landfills also emit hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, gases that can cause eye irritation and coughing, and can cause leachate, a mixture of rainwater and toxins from landfill waste, to seep into the groundwater beneath landfills.

Monday, October 5, 2026 in Inside Climate News

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