Without harmless treatment, solid waste is piled up at will, which will flow into rivers and lakes with natural precipitation or surface runoff, and deposit for a long time, reducing the water surface, and the harm of its harmful components will be greater. Harmful components of solid waste, such as mercury (from red plastic, neon tubes, batteries, vermilion ink paste, etc.), cadmium (from printing, ink, fiber, enamel, glass, cadmium pigment, paint, colored ceramics, etc.), lead (from yellow polyethylene, lead water pipes, rust proof paint, etc.) and other trace harmful elements, can enter the soil with the leachate if not handled properly, Thus polluting the groundwater, at the same time, it may also penetrate into the water network with rainwater, flow into wells, rivers and even the nearby sea areas, be ingested by plants, and then enter the human body through the food chain, affecting human health. It is found that the concentration, chromaticity, total bacterial count, heavy metal content and other pollution indicators of groundwater seriously exceed the standard around the garbage landfills in some cities in China.

The dry matter or light weight in solid waste will be blown by the wind, which will pollute the atmosphere. Incineration is a popular way to treat solid waste at present, but incineration will produce a large amount of harmful gas and dust. Some organic solid waste will be decomposed by microorganisms under suitable temperature and humidity and release harmful gas at the same time.

After weathering, rain, surface runoff and other effects, the toxic liquid of untreated hazardous solid waste will penetrate into the soil, thereby killing microorganisms in the soil, destroying the ecological balance in the soil, and even barren in heavily polluted places.