New Trends in Landfill Design and Operation

Landfill operations have a significant impact on the environment. The greenhouse gases (GHG’s) emitted from landfill, including methane and carbon dioxide, contribute to climate change and global warming. Leachate, if improperly managed, can contaminate the surrounding groundwater and surface water. For these reasons, there is a necessity to control and reduce landfill emissions and maintain proper leachate management practices. Over the last decades, process-based landfilling has been gaining popularity asan alternative to conventional municipal solid waste (MSW) landfiling. Although many of the elements of bioreactor landfill are the same as the MSW landfill, including leachate containment and landfill gas collection, the bioreactor landfill utilizes enhanced microbial processes to accelerate the decomposition and stabilization of waste. Decomposition and stabilization rates of solid waste are also increased through leachate recirculations and nutrient additions and balancing through the landfill cell.This paper details the major elements of bioreactor landfill design including the leachate containment system, leachate recirculation system, and gas collection system.Important operational elements are also outlined in this paper including landfill composition, moisture requirements and control of waste physical capacity

Keywords:

Bioreactor Landfill , Soil Waste Biodegradation , Leachate