Landfill Daily Cover and Landfill Specifications

Waste should not be treated differently to any other product, and then it would be possible for it to be recycled more easily. Waste once thus classified is too rigidly then held to remain waste, and this reduces its marketability due to the increased regulation which applies to waste when compared to normal industrial and manufacturing processes.











Waste if treated merely as a secondary resource with certain properties like should be able to move freely across borders and within regions. Why should, for example, a plastic cup made in one part of the world be able to be freely exported to another country, like the UK, but once recycled for material use become a restricted commodity?



“It does not make sense”.



Likewise with the issue of incineration; a furnace for a factory can be sited close to a conurbation and is welcomed and seen as creating jobs. Yet the same furnace burning waste is treated as a demon even though now that the EU Waste Incineration Directive has been implemented it will always have lower emissions than all of them.



Those working in the waste management industry must work to de-demonise the waste industry. If we lose this argument we are storing major problems for the future of the industry.



Nevertheless, for the foreseeable future there will still be waste which has to be disposed to landfill, so let us put our minds to that and the landfill specification needed..



A continuing trend in recent years has been to increase waste density through waste compaction. MBT waste itself tends to be dense and compactable. While this reduces settlement for the current generation the ultimate amount of settlement will depend upon the degree to which all organic material decompose to carbon dioxide or methane or other gaseous forms.



Increasing density will ultimately extend the period before a landfill reaches final storage quality when no more reactions are taking place and all soluble materials have been leachate out by into leachate by solution. Excessive waste compaction slows gas production and overall biological activity because as increases the density occurs, permeability reduces decreasing the rate at which water can infiltrate the waste.



Methane is produced by all modern landfills. It burns very easily and often is used as natural gas for cooking and heating. It is lighter than air and collects at the top of enclosed spaces. It can be profitably collected from landfills and used as an energy source.



The rate of gas production is higher if heavy rainfall and/or permeable landfill covers introduce additional water into a landfill, but EU policy and regulation is against such action.



Groundwater moves slowly and continuously through the open spaces in soil and rock below a landfill. If a landfill contaminates groundwater, a plume of contamination will occur.



Leachate, groundwater and landfill gas from landfill site are routinely monitored and where necessary treated, before being discharged to a nearby Publicly Owned Treatment Works.



Dumping rubbish in an uncontrolled manner occurs still in many developing nations. Such dumps provide a tempting livelihood for the very poor in many third world nations. If these sites are cleaned up in a socially sensitive manner there is scope for assisting the original tip scavengers to continue in a much more organised and efficient manner. There are some cleaned up dumps which now provide extremely profitable business for the ex-scavengers now turned business people.



Leachate migration control standards must be followed in the design, construction, and operation of landfills during the use of the facility and during the post-closure period.



Leachate is produced by a combination of liquids from waste material, rainwater and other liquids that are produced during the decomposition of waste. Leachate will initially contain contaminates that could pollute water supplies if allowed to enter the groundwater which is known as an aquifer where it is extensive enough to provide a water supply



Leachate is water that filters through the landfill, picking up impurities as it travels. If the impure water soaks down into an aquifer and reaches a well it will contaminate the drinking water.



Residents in some US states within one-half mile of the landfill may be able to have their wells tested every year. The Health Department contacts the owners or residents in the area of eligible properties before sampling each fall and spring. This is important as part of the landfill specification to protect the health of those using the well water.



Steve Evans has some great information and ideas on the environment and waste. Go visit his web sites for more articles like this one. For waste and recycling go to the Waste-rs Blog.