In 1960, our daily rate of disposal was closer to 2.7 pounds (1.2 kilograms)
of garbage per person a day. And the landfills where most of our trash ends
up have been closing across the country — usually either because they have
filled up or they didn’t meet federal safety standards. According to the
Clean Air Council, there were 18,500 landfills in 1979. Keep America
Beautiful, Inc. estimates that number shrank to 8,000 in 1988 and to
1,767 in 2002. Throughout the rest of the past decade, the number has
stayed in that range.
https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/reducing-solid-waste.htm
