Final answer:
The statement is true, but biodegradation in a landfill is a slow process and can be harmful. Plastic products like bottles can take centuries to decompose, and decomposers in landfills work less effectively, leading to environmental issues.
Step-by-step explanation:
If you put something biodegradable in the dump, it will eventually rot away. Most commonly-used polymers are not readily biodegradable under the anaerobic conditions that prevail in most landfills. In such environments, decomposition is slow and can result in harmful byproducts like leachates, which can contaminate water supplies.
Moreover, plastics that do decompose might go through a process called partial photodecomposition, primarily caused by sunlight exposure, which breaks the plastics down into small fragments. Unfortunately, these fragments often find their way into oceans and can pose significant environmental problems because they are less dense than seawater and remain there indefinitely.
For instance, a plastic bottle can take up to 450 years to decompose in a landfill. With 50 million plastic bottles discarded every day in the United States alone, the environmental impact is substantial. Decomposers play a crucial role in breaking down organic matter and recycling nutrients back into the ecosystem, but their efficiency is greatly diminished in landfills. Therefore, considering alternative options to reduce the use of plastics is crucial for environmental conservation.