LANDFILLS

GROUP 3 MEMBERS

GRACIOUS MAGOCHE N0188117J

THABILE MUSWEDE N0182100H
FORTUNE MAFIRAKUREVA N0187524K
BEATRICE MANDLIKURA N0187608J
DOMINIC MAGWADI N0182854H
NYARAI MADYAZVIVI N0174009V
 A landfill is an area of land that is used to dump garbage, either directly on the
ground (landraising) or filling an unwanted hole in the environment ( landfill)
 Any waste that is not recycled or reused has to go somewhere, and it usually ends up at a
landfill site. Landfill sites can be created from a void made by quarrying or may form part
of a land reclamation scheme.
 Landfill sites contain both household and commercial rubbish. Household waste that gets
sent to landfill consists of mostly organic waste, for example food, paper, cardboard or
wood. Other household rubbish contains plastic or tin packaging.
 A lot of our individual rubbish is known as Municipal Solid Waste. World Bank defines
MSW as: “Waste that includes non-hazardous waste generated in households, commercial
and business establishments, institutions, and non-hazardous industrial process wastes,
agricultural wastes and sewage sludge”
 A lot of the rubbish put in landfill sites today is from construction and commercial
businesses, such as soil, concrete and brick rubble. This is known as inert waste because it
is unlikely to react with other rubbish, making it relatively safe for landfill. and the
commercial waste is mainly inert rubbish such as rubble, bricks, soil, and concrete.
 The inert waste is often used to build roads onsite, and then to cover the site over when it is
full. Once the site has been covered and has been made ‘safe’, the area can then be
repurposed, but there are heavy restrictions in place regarding this.
 Landfills are located, designed, operated and monitored to ensure compliance with
regulations. They are also designed to protect the environment from contaminants, which
may be present in the waste stream.
 Landfills are built to concentrate the waste in compacted layers to reduce the volume and
monitored for the control of liquid and gaseous effluent in order to protect the environment
and human health. Besides municipal solid waste, faecal sludge can also be discharged into
landfills
Factors to consider in making a landfill
 Site selection
 Estimate of landfill space
 Estimate of the solid waste quantity
 Type of waste delivered
 Requirements by the EMA
Advantages of landfills
• Excellent energy source from landfill gas methane
• Easy of construction
• cheap way to deal with waste
• Provide economic benefits interms of taxes and host community fees
• Creates a controlled environment
• Landfills create a controlled environment because garbage or gasses do not escape into the
atmosphere
• Protects water supplies because they are sited away from residential areas and from farmlands .This
prevents harmful chemicals from leaching into water sources where humans and animals drink water
PROBLEMS/DISADVANTAGES ASSOCIATED WITH LANDFILLS
Organic waste produces bacteria which break the rubbish down. The decaying rubbish produces weak
acidic chemicals which combine with liquids in the waste to form leachate and landfill gas.
1.TOXINS
Many materials that end up as waste contain toxic substances. Electronic waste is an example. Waste such
as televisions, computers and other electronic appliances contain a long list of hazardous substances,
including mercury, arsenic, cadmium, PVC, solvents, acids and lead. Over time, these toxins leach into our
soil and groundwater, and become environmental hazards for years.
Leachate is the liquid formed when waste breaks down in the landfill and water filters through that waste.
This liquid is highly toxic and can pollute land, ground water and water ways.
 .Greenhouse gas production is perhaps the biggest environmental threat posed by landfills. When
organic material such as food scraps and green waste is put in landfill, it is generally compacted down
and covered. This removes the oxygen and causes it to break down in an anaerobic process. Eventually
this releases methane, a greenhouse gas that is about 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
 Methane is high flammable so there is a high risk of a fire breaking out
 Accidents can occur due to the pilinig
 Refuse is bulky thus volume requirements for landfills are significant, land is expensive
LANDFILL PLANNING

 Location restrictions—ensure that landfills are built in suitable geological areas away from faults,
wetlands, flood plains or other restricted areas.
 Composite liners requirements—include a flexible membrane (i.e., geo-membrane) overlaying two
feet of compacted clay soil lining the bottom and sides of the landfill. They are used to protect
groundwater and the underlying soil from leachate releases.
 Leachate collection and removal systems—sit on top of the composite liner and removes leachate
from the landfill for treatment and disposal.
 Operating practices—include compacting and covering waste frequently with several inches of soil.
These practices help reduce odour, control litter, insects, and rodents, and protect public health.
 Groundwater monitoring requirements —requires testing groundwater wells to determine whether
waste materials have escaped from the landfill.
 Closure and post-closure care requirements —include covering landfills and providing long-term
care of closed landfills.
 Corrective action provisions—control and clean up landfill releases and achieves groundwater
protection standards.
 Financial assurance—provides funding for environmental protection during and after landfill closure
(i.e., closure and post-closure care).
TYPES OF LANDFILLS

 Sanitary landfills -
landfill that uses a clay liner to isolate the
trash from the environment

 Municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills -

uses a synthetic (plastic) liner to isolate the
trash from the environment

 Construction and demolition waste landfills -

consist of the debris generated during the
construction, renovation, and demolition of buildings,
roads, and bridges.

 Industrial Waste Landfills- nonhazardous solid waste,

consists of nonhazardous waste associated with
manufacturing and other industrial activities
 Some materials may be banned from disposal in MSWLFs, including common household
items like paints, cleaners/chemicals, motor oil, batteries and pesticides. Leftover portions
of these products are called household hazardous waste.
 These products, if mishandled, can be dangerous to your health and the environment.
Many MSWLFs have a household hazardous waste drop-off station for these materials.
 MSWLFs can also receive household appliances (i.e. white goods) that are no longer
needed. Many of these appliances, such as refrigerators or window air conditioners, rely on
ozone-depleting refrigerants and their substitutes.
 MSWLFs follow the federal disposal procedures for household appliances that use
refrigerants. EPA has general information on how refrigerants can damage the ozone
layer and consumer information on the specifics for disposing of these appliances.
The image shows a cross-section of a municipal solid waste landfill.
CONCLUSION
 At some level, we should try to avoid, or at least reduce rubbish that we send to landfills. landfill
conjures up images of vast, foul smelling open tips, strewn with garbage, teeming with scavenger
birds and flies. Let alone the pollution, and problems to wildlife and nature that come with landfills,
which is becoming a more talked about subject.
 The 3 R’s play an important role in this; Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
  This means reducing what you ‘use’ where possible, reusing as much as you can, send what is left
to recycling, and compost what you cannot, then finally the small part of waste left goes to landfill.
It’s about making a conscious effort to make better choices.
 In striving to make our waste management more sustainable, we should be doing everything in our
power to eliminate landfill waste
REFERENCES
www.conserve__energy_future.com
www.pollutionsollutions-online.com
https://tmcfluidsystems.com/Knowledgebase/what-is-a-landfill.html
El Maguiri, Abdelhakim & Zegzouti, Yassine & Souabi, Salah & Idrissi, Laila & Hadek,
Miloud & Rene, Eldon & Pala, Aysegul & Hafidi, Mohamed. (2017). Landfills: Environmental
Impacts, Assessment and Management.