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Retired garbage hauler here...Couple of notes.
1 garbage compactors are a pretty standard tool of industry, Still generate 100's of tons of waste a year.
2. Garbage burners for Energy. I know the plant we used in Mpls actually worked pretty well. Met EPA qualifications anyway, still could be cleaner.
3. Modern NA landfills are lined, vented and undergo ongoing testing to make sure they don't leak into the groundwater.
4 "Special waste" such as medical or biohazardous waste is autoclaved or microwaved to kill contaminates before they hit the landfill.
5 Dangerous industrial wastes, solids, liquid or gas, are transported by specially trained individuals. To Hazmat landfills. Here we need to pay attention, said landfills seem to end up on indigenous land. I know Ca. (where I live now) has hazmat transfer stations, but almost all of our really hazardous waste goes to North Dakota and Texas.
How to handle this? Well, I noticed in my job that seniors tend to create much, much less trash than younger folks. Less pre-made food. Plastic trash has to make up a good 50% of family home waste. Less plastic, less trash. In the early days of garbage hauling food waste primarily went to farmers, to feed hogs. Paper and cloth waste were normally burnt by the residents, we then picked up the ash. (Coal too) I've dug out more than one coal cellar in my day. Said ash was used in icy alleys during winter. Metal and glass waste normally went to scrap haulers. and plastic was used much less.
Know this, I've hauled commercial, residential, industrial and hazardous/ bio-hazardous waste. Residential and commercial trash (restaurants, apartments, hotels and such) and while the trash flow could be handled in better ways, it pales in comparison to the sheer volume of Industrial and medical waste.
The obvious answer is to end capitalism, changing the nature of production and disposal of waste products as a matter of course. Also, a "how much shit do you need?" attitude, enforced would help quite a bit. Finally, if you can raise, garden, or make it yourself, do so.