What happens when a landfill runs out of space?

Landfills nationwide are starting to fill up. According to the Waste Business Journal, by 2021 the average landfill will only have 15 years of life left. In Tennessee, a landfill that services over a dozen counties has even less time, and despite costly consultations and over a year of debate officials have yet to find a long-term solution.

Correction (Jan. 8, 2019): An earlier audio introduction of this story misstated the timeframe that the landfill has before it reaches capacity. The audio has been deleted.