METAL AND ORGANIC MATTER

CONTENTS IN A MIXED LANDFILL

M. ÖSTMAN*, O. WAHLBERG**, S. ÅGREN*** AND A. MÅRTENSSON*

* Department of Soil Sciences, P.O. Box 7014, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden.

** Department of Chemistry, Royal Institute of Technology, SE-10044 Stockholm,
Sweden
*** Ragnar Sellbergs Foundation, Högbytorp, SE-197 93 Bro, Sweden.

SUMMARY: As the beginning of a study on the long-term fate of metals in relation to the
organic material deposited in landfills, the content of metals and organic matter (as loss of
ignition) in a Swedish landfill were analysed. The metal contents varied substantially with depth
and between sampling sites. The organic matter content increased substantially at approximately
10 m.

1. INTRODUCTION

In Sweden there are presently about 300 active landfills and a number of landfills that have been
closed. The landfills contain large amounts of heavy metals, which are assumed to be bound as
sulphides or complex bound to organic matter. Many studies of landfills have focused on
leachates from landfills and treatment of these leachates.
As the beginning of a study on the long-term fate of metals in relation to the organic material
deposited in landfills, the content of metals and organic matter (as loss of ignition) in a Swedish
landfill were analysed. The landfill is a combined household/industrial waste facility situated at
Högbytorp, 40 km north-west of Stockholm, Sweden (60°32’N, 17°37’E) and covers an area of
30 ha. The landfill was started in the 1960:s and will be taken out of use within a few years. At
present, the Högbytorp landfill contains approximately 4 million cubic metres of mixed waste.
The incoming waste is classified into the following main categories: building and construction
waste, household waste, sludge, filling material, ash and slag. The first two main classes contain:
plastics, animal and vegetable waste, newspapers, textiles, rubber, wood, scrap metal and other
materials. This gives rise to the possibility that there are a wide range of components in the
landfill that will be of environmental significance in the future. Parts of the landfill have been
finally capped and are biologically in the methane phase. The methane is collected and
transported to a nearby heating plant.

Proceedings Sardinia 2003, Ninth International Waste Management and Landfill Symposium
S. Margherita di Pula, Cagliari, Italy; 6 - 10 October 2003
 2003 by CISA, Environmental Sanitary Engineering Centre, Italy
2. MATERIAL AND METHODS

Samplings were conducted on a capped part at three different sites on the landfill and at different
depths at each site. Site A was located on a lower part of the landfill, while Sites B and C were
situated on the upper parts of the landfill. Samples were taken down to 10 m, 12.5 m and 18 m
depth, respectively. The landfill samples were collected at regular depths from 5 metres down to
the lower depth specified for each site using a drill designed for drilling gas wells in landfills.
The samples were dried, ground and sieved. At the same time, the water content was
determined. Total-carbon and total-nitrogen of dry samples were determined by dry combustion
with an LECO CNS 2000. After dissolution in concentrated nitric acid all samples were analysed
for their respective metal content using inductive coupled plasma (ICP) equipment. The metals
determined were Al, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Ni, Pb, Zn and V. The non-
metals B, P and S were also determined.

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The metal contents varied substantially with depth and between sampling sites. For the two sites
B and C situated on the upper part of the landfill, the water and organic matter content increased
substantially at approximately 10 m (Figure 1). Sodium and zinc contents also increased clearly
at that level, as did sulphur and phosphorus contents. Elements that normally originate from
silicates, such as aluminium, magnesium and potassium, showed no increase downwards in the
cores. Lead (Pb) values in most of the samples from one of the sampling sites (Site C, Figure 2)
were extremely high (more than 5 g kg-1). Furthermore, zinc values were very high in all
samples.

Site B Site C
Organic matter (%)
Water content (%)

80
60 40
40
20
20
0 0
3 5 7 9 11 13 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Depth (m) Depth (m)

Figure 1. Water content (%w/w) at Site B and organic matter content (%w/w) at Site C.
 Site C

-1
Lead (mg kg )
0 1 000 2 000 3 000 4 000 5 000 6 000
6
7.5
Depth (m)

11
11.5
13
16.3

Figure 2. Lead values (mg kg –1) at site C.

Correlations between different chemical elements at each sampling site were calculated. In
samples from the site with the lowest heavy metal content (Site A) correlations were found
between some metals (Co, Ni, Cr) and loss of ignition and also between the same metals and
sulphur. In these samples, there was also a correlation between S and loss of ignition. A
correlation between Zn and S was obtained at all sampling sites, indicating the possibility of Zn
being bound as sulphide (Figure 3).

Site C

3.00

2.50

2.00
S (%)

1.50
y = 0.0003x + 0.7984
2
1.00 R = 0.8255

0.50

0.00
0 1 000 2 000 3 000 4 000 5 000 6 000 7 000
-1
Zn (mg kg )

Figure 3. Correlation between sulphur and zinc at Site C.

In addition to the metal analyses, content of total-C, total-N (analysed by dry combustion) was
determined. The pH ranged between 8.0-8.5. The C/N ratio was high in all samples, indicating
that there is not enough nitrogen available for microorganisms to have high activity or enough
nitrogen available to ensure that C is stabilized.
4. CONCLUSIONS

Landfills are very heterogeneous man-made creations. In a 40-year old landfill, there was a
distinct correlation between S and loss of ignition, and a correlation between S and Zn. When
extreme values were excluded from the data, a correlation between S and Fe also became
apparent.

5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors wish to thank the Ragnar Sellbergs foundation

6. REFERENCES

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