Note: As of July 2025, we have split this popular resource into two separate articles: Land Pollution, provided below, and Water Pollution, found here.
The land we stand on is more than dirt. Soil supports ecosystems and plays an important role in the water and nutrient cycles. It sustains plant life, which other organisms depend on for nutrition. It also supports human-created structures, like buildings.
However, pollution harms the vital resources we get from the land. Land pollution refers to the contamination of the land with materials that can damage human health and ecosystems. Land pollution is closely connected to air and water pollution. For example, landfills—areas where waste is buried beneath layers of earth—can release methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes to human-caused global warming and climate change. In fact, landfills and the waste sector contribute to 20% of the world’s methane emissions. Soil connects to water through the water cycle. Water falls onto the land through precipitation like rain and evaporates back into the atmosphere. Water also percolates through the soil into groundwater. The permeability of soil, or the ability of substances to move through the soil, can impact how pollutants move through it. Through these processes, water and air pick up pollutants from the land.
Many types of materials can pollute the land. Items such as litter come from a variety of sources and can be big or small, from household garbage to industrial and construction waste. Some pollutants can be exceptionally small, even microscopic. Chemicals like pesticides, heavy metals and microplastics are examples of these tiny pollutants.
Sources of Land Pollution
Each year, humans generate more than 2 billion tons of waste, and this waste must go somewhere. Waste disposal is an issue around the world. Most often, waste management systems deposit garbage in landfills.
Landfills vary in the amount and type of pollution they produce. Sanitary landfills are typically built either in or on top of the ground, and they create barriers between waste and the environment. Waste is compacted and kept in areas called cells. Cells are lined with materials to reduce the waste’s interaction with the environment. When garbage decomposes and mixes with discarded fluids and rainwater, the liquid travels through the other trash, collecting toxic materials along the way. Ultimately, if it’s not properly collected and treated, this substance, called leachate, can end up in groundwater, contaminating an important source of freshwater. In addition, landfills release greenhouse gases, including methane and carbon dioxide, as well as particulate matter and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), all of which present health hazards. Particulate matter refers to small particles of pollution in the air. VOCs are chemicals emitted mainly by human-made materials like certain paints or industrial products.
Dumping trash in areas outside of designated landfills, including illegal dumping and littering, also contributes to land pollution. Open dumping is a cost-effective practice used throughout the world, whereby people place waste on top of the ground without taking any measures to protect the environment. This allows waste to contaminate the land and risks attracting pests that spread disease.
Industrial and commercial sources produce massive quantities of waste. Construction and demolition projects create harmful pollutants on a large scale. Handling waste materials from demolished buildings requires special considerations, like whether it contains hazardous chemicals. Agriculture is also a significant source of pollution, especially when it comes to adding contaminants, such as pesticides, to the soil. Mining also produces significant waste that leaches into the soil and water sources.
Hazardous waste, including radioactive waste, can lead to serious illness and requires specialized methods of disposal. If someone disposes of hazardous waste, such as radioactive waste, chemicals or heavy metals, in a facility that is not designed to contain such waste, it may leak into the environment, contaminating soil and groundwater.
Impacts of Land Pollution
Landfills and dumpsites are especially problematic for local animals, but litter everywhere threatens wildlife. Animals can become entangled in litter or mistake it for food. Entanglement prevents animals from moving freely, and it can interrupt essential behaviors like breathing. When animals eat litter, it takes up space in the gut without providing nutrition, making them feel full and possibly leading to starvation. Litter can also carry harmful chemicals, such as heavy metals, that cause negative health outcomes for wildlife.
Humans are also susceptible to negative health impacts. Those who live near places like landfills and dumpsites are at risk for many health conditions, including respiratory and cardiovascular issues. Take Campania, a region north of Napoli, Italy, for example. It is known as the “land of fires” due to local burning and dumping of toxic waste, which has contaminated the land and water. Many residents, including children, have developed health conditions, including cancer. But activists drew attention to government inaction and the role of organized crime in illegal dumping. In 2025, a European court ruled that Italy must develop a plan to monitor the area’s pollution and spread public awareness.
Land pollution can also present a threat to the physical safety of humans. In 2000, at a massive landfill near Quezon City, Philippines, heavy rains caused a trash landslide that killed more than 200 people. Thousands of people lived on the slopes of the landfill. These people made their living from recycling and selling items in the landfill. But it wasn’t until 2020 that a court ruled the accident was the result of government negligence and awarded settlements to the victims’ families.
Land pollution does not impact everyone equally. Worldwide, middle- and low-income countries and communities are often at greater risk for land pollution and its negative health impacts. High-income countries produce 34% of the world’s trash but make up only 16% of the world’s population. Within countries, poorer and more marginalized communities are often closer to landfills and dumpsites and experience worse health effects.
Controlling Land Pollution
Perhaps one of the most well-known solutions to land pollution is recycling. Many items can be recycled, such as glass, aluminum and paper products. However, other items are limited in their recyclability—sometimes it is simply not cost-effective to recycle certain materials. For instance, some plastics can be recycled, while others cannot. However, reducing waste and reusing items are more effective at stopping pollution.
Reducing food waste can go a long way in preventing more land pollution. As many as one billion meals go to waste each day. Food waste in landfills contributes to the production of leachate and it produces greenhouse gases, including methane, as it decomposes. Individuals can reduce food waste by only purchasing what they will consume and storing food properly. Compost is another way to avoid food waste. This involves recycling food waste into nutrient-dense fertilizer that can be used to help grow plants.
Sustainable agriculture practices can do a lot to minimize pollution and promote soil health. These practices include reducing tilling—the practice of mechanically turning over the top layer of soil—which then reduces erosion of soil. Farmers can also use less synthetic fertilizer and pesticides. These practices can improve soil health, allowing soil to better filter pollution.
Healthy soils contain microbial ecosystems, which also help filter pollutants. Chemical pollution from plastics and pesticides, among other sources, negatively alters these microbial ecosystems. However, a process called bioremediation can add certain microbes to depleted soils to help filter out pollutants and restore the ecosystem.
Government Actions and Regulations
Laws and regulations are an important tool to establish proper waste management. Governments can combat pollution by passing laws that limit the amount and types of chemicals factories and agribusinesses are allowed to use. They can also discourage pollution by issuing fines to people and businesses who illegally dump waste into the land, water and air. Some government programs, such as the Superfund program in the United States, force polluters to clean up or pay the government to clean up the sites that they polluted.
To effectively regulate and act against pollution, governments must research and understand relevant pollution problems. In 2022, for example, China launched a new soil survey to understand land pollution. An earlier study, published in 2014, showed that one-fifth of the country’s soils were polluted. The new soil survey will assess the health of the nation’s soils to better understand how to feed the nation and avoid greenhouse gas emissions. Since the last survey, agricultural activity and use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides have increased. This new survey will provide an updated look at the country’s soil pollution.
International agreements on pollution can also provide critical guidance. The Basel Convention, for example, adopted by the United Nations in 1989, set standards for the movement of hazardous waste across borders. In this agreement, the importing country must consent to receiving exported waste and handle it in an environmentally sound manner. However, wealthier nations do not always hold themselves accountable to this agreement. Wealthier countries still find ways to take advantage of poorer nations and export hazardous waste there.
Individuals, governments, businesses and communities all have a role to play in preventing and cleaning up land pollution. Reducing land pollution is a positive step toward better environmental and human health.
Take Action
Pollution affects all of us, but together, we can make a difference! Students and educators can take action by joining citizen science projects like OpenLitter Map and helping build a global map of pollution while contributing to environmental science. With CanAirIO, you can measure local air quality and learn how to improve it. You can also help fight light pollution by participating in Globe at Night, measuring the brightness of the night sky, and raising awareness about how light pollution affects people and wildlife. Explore the sounds of your community with Sound Around Town, recording and analyzing local noise to understand its impact on well-being. These projects empower classrooms to become environmental heroes by collecting data, contributing to science, increasing awareness of pollution, and inspiring positive change in your local community and beyond! Check out additional projects on SciStarter!
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