Sustainable Practices For Landfill Design And Operation

Solid waste management is a global concern, and landfilling remains the predominant management method in most areas of the world. This book provides a comprehensive view of state-of-the-art methods to manage landfills more sustainably, drawing upon more than two decades of research, design, and operational experiences at operating sites across the world. Sustainable landfills implement one or multiple technologies to control and enhance the degradation of waste materials to realize a multitude of potential benefits during or shortly after the landfill’s operating phase. This book presents detailed approaches in the development, design, operation, and monitoring of sustainable landfills. Case studies showcasing the benefits and challenges of sustainable landfill technologies are also provided to give the reader additional context. The intent of the book is to serve as a reference guide for regulatory personnel, a practical tool for designers and engineers to build on for site-specific applications of sustainable landfill technologies, and a comprehensive resource for researchers who are continuing to explore new and better ways to more sustainably manage waste materials.

The management of municipal solid waste in many countries throughout the world has changed significantly over the past fifty years, with a shift from uncontrolled dumping or burning to complex systems that integrate multiple processes to recover materials or energy and provide containment to reduce environmental impacts. This volume, the first in the series Waste Management Principles, gives readers a comprehensive overview of advances in sustainable landfill design and operation. The authors developed this volume to serve as a tool for designers, regulators, and other parties interested in sustainable landfill practices and to be used in conjunction with fundamental design methodologies, location-specific regulations, new and emerging research results, and good engineering judgment. Dozens of graphs, figures, and tables provided throughout the text provide the designer with an excellent foundation to begin their analysis and apply the principles from this book to their site or facility. In like fashion, operational experiences are provided throughout, tying in the important underlying fundamental concepts (e.g., accelerated gas production after liquids addition) to critical operational considerations (e.g., how to effectively collect the additional gas that is produced). The body of work presented here results from the development of bioreactor landfill design guidelines for the US Environmental Protection Agency's National Risk Manageme nt Laboratory, along with the combined knowledge and experience of the authors pertaining to sustainable practices for design and operation of sanitary landfills. .

FROM THE PREFACE Sanitary landfills are the most widely utilized method of solid waste disposal around the world. With increased use and public awareness of this method of disposal, there is much concern with respect to the pollution potential of the landfill leachate. Depending on the composition and extent of decomposition of the refuse and hydrological factors, the leachate may become highly contaminated. As leachate migrates away from a landfill, it may cause serious pollution to the groundwater aquifer as well as adjacent surface waters. There is growing concern about surface and groundwater pollution from leachate. Better understanding and prediction of leachate generation, containment, and treatment are needed. This book contains a literature review of various methodologies that have been developed for prediction, generation, characterization, containment, control, and treatment of leachate from sanitary landfills. The contents of this book are divided into nine chapters. Each chapter contains theory and definition of the important design parameters, literature review, example calculations, and references. Chapter 1 is devoted to basic facts of solid waste problems current status and future trends towards waste reduction and recycling. Chapter 2 provides a general overview of municipal solid waste generation, collection, transport, resource recovery and reuse, and disposal options. The current status of sanitary landfill design and operation, problems associated with the landfilling, and future trends are presented in Chapter 3. Methods of enhanced stabilization, recycling landfill space, methane recovery, and above grade landfilling, and closure and post closure care of completed landfills are also discussed in detail. Chapter 4 provides a general overview of Subtitle D regulations and its impact upon sanitary landfilling practices. Chapter 5 is devoted entirely to moisture routing and leachate generation mechanisms. Examples of calculation procedure for determining the leachate quantity produced at a landfill are presented. Chapter 6 is devoted to chemical characterization of leachate that changes over the life of the fill. Both theoretical and experimental results are provided to estimate the leachate quality. Chapter 7 provides leachate attenuation processes and mechanisms. Chapter 8 is devoted to leachate collection systems. Natural soil sealants, admixed materials and synthetic membranes, their effectiveness, and methods of installation and economics are fully discussed. Chapter 9 provides a detailed review of leachate treatment methodology. Kinetic coefficients and treatment plant design considerations are summarized for the sole purpose of assisting con- sultants to design leachate treatment facilities. Leachate treatment case histories and numerous process trains are presented for treating leachate from young landfill. The book also describes how the process train can be changed effectively as leachate quality changes with time.

This volume contains selects papers presented during the Second International Conference on Environmental Geotechnology, Recycled Waste Materials and Sustainable Engineering, held in the University of Illinois at Chicago. It covers the recent innovations, trends, and concerns, practical challenges encountered, and the solutions adopted in geoenvironmental engineering, waste management, and sustainable engineering. This book will be useful for academics, educators, policy makers and professionals working in the field of civil engineering, chemical engineering, environmental sciences and public policy.

This book discusses sustainable waste management technologies for managing end-of-life (EoL) post-consumer and packaging plastic solid waste (PSW) from domestic and commercial waste streams. It does so particularly in the context of providing a way forward for developing economies. Treating recycling and composting of, and energy recovery from, plastics, the book is directed at individuals who are responsible for or have a significant role in solid waste management. Academics and students in solid waste management pursuing research or study in solid waste management with particular interest in plastics will find this book useful. Sustainable options for managing PSW are presented with reference to the scientific, engineering, and management standpoints to enable decision makers and relevant stakeholders in industry arrive at the best decision for achieving sustainable resource management. The book further integrates waste management and technologies so that PSW recycling can be viewed from environmental, economic, and social perspectives. Greener technologies for PSW management are addressed so as to provide drivers that will influence key stakeholders and policy-makers achieve sustainability in this field.

Using biotechnology to help control landfill processes can mitigate costs, shorten the time needed to process solid waste, and ease the typical ecological damage to the land being used. This first-of-its-kind book provides regulators, designers, landfill owners, and operators with information that supports the utility of landfill bioreactors and provides design and operating criteria essential for the successful application of this technology. It pulls together laboratory, pilot, and full-scale experiences into one concise guide to designing and running municipal landfills as bioreactors. Landfill Bioreactor Design and Operation covers the history and background of landfill technology, research studies of actual bioreactor landfills, expected leachate and gas yields, specific design criteria, operation guidelines, and reuse of landfill sites to avoid having to establish new sites. For anyone looking for an alternative to large, wasteful landfill sites, this book provides a practical alternative to the problem.