What are dump sites?

A dump site or dump is a location where people leave garbage or other unwanted things such as toxic waste. The government is responsible for designing and maintaining legal dump sites or landfills, while people might create illegal dump sites by discarding waste in other places.

The word "dump" has meant to throw down or drop since the 14th century, and it has meant both the action of discarding as well as a place where things are discarded since around the late 1800s and early 1900s. Legal dump sites usually involve waste management experts who gather approved types of household and industrial waste in designated areas, where they then bury or burn portions of the waste.