The issue of how long will we need to carry on with landfill gas aftercare, is a serious one when you consider the cost of flaring and monitoring a landfill site for landfill gas production and migration, as the years go by.

M. Huber-Humer states in his paper “Dwindling Landfill Gas – Relevance and Aftercare Approaches, (Instiute of Waste Management BOKU, Univesity of Applied Life Scienceshile, Venna, Austria, 2007) 90% of the carbon broken down in a bioreactor landfill is found in landfill gas, only 10% remains in the organic load of leachate, so it is clear that it is the gas that is the major emittor and not the leachate.

At normal temperatures and water content in a landfill the decomposition of the organic matter in the landfill proceeds at a fairly standard rate in all MSW landfills. Utilizable gas formation and environmentally relevant gas emissions in such circumstances are thought to occur for a period of two to three decades.

That is not to say that gas production will stop even then, and a small amount of gas formation is generally estimated to continue for up to 100 years. Polluting leachate emissions can emerge considerably longer, and the parameters such as COD (chemical oxygen demand) and nitrogen compounds are particularly persistent. Salinity in leachate will not diminsh any more rapidly than will be achieved by simple dilutionn, so that will also remain high. This assertion has bee confirmed by investigations performed by Kruse (1994), Horing and Ehrig (1997) and Kriimpel-beck (1999) which all show that these parameters decrease very slowly over time. Accordingly, leachate from MSW-landfills must be treated for 100 to 200 years in order to comply with proper legal enforcement designed to protect water resources for future generations.

Therefore, although leachate quality is the determining factor in establishing the time span of landfill aftercare, it is collected quite easily at modern landfills with engineered techniques and attendance need not be very frequent, as in the event of pumps not operation the leachate will simply sit in the base of the lined landfills, awaiting action to remove it.

Landfill gas is different. Landfill gas is far harder to capture, even using modern equipment. In fact, because of the high methane content the resulting gas emissions are of paramount importance on a global scale in climate change.

A further conern must also be that when the top barrier fails at some later date, which it surely will water will infiltrate again and microbial decomposition rates in the waste will increase, leading to related effects upon gas formation, most probably at a time when gas recovery systems are no longer operational. Consequently, this leads to unforeseeable and largely unpredictable time-spans for landfill aftercare.

The EU landfill directive (Council Directive 1999/31/EC) stipulates in article 10 that landfill operators must ensure financial security for landfill closure and aftercare measures for a period of at least 30 years.

This time-span is also often interpreted as the “active aftercare phase” for a landfill site, including gas extraction and treatment, leachate collection and disposal. However, from a scientific and technical point of view, the real aftercare period will most probably last longer in order to achieve environmentally harmless emissions and this is particularly the case regarding leachate quality.

With respect to landfill gas, under optimal decomposition conditions, the greater part of methane formation in the landfill may already have taken place within 30 years after landfill closure. At first sight, compared to the amount of methane produced in the operational or landfill closure phase, it may seem to many people that the methane released in or even after the aftercare phase will to be negligible.

Nevertheless, in the latter phase gas extraction systems are almost certainly no longer in continuous operation, flares will be run sporadically due to automatic turn-offs when air in the gas rises, since by this stage gas volumes and methane contents are excessively low, making reliable flare equipment operation very difficult to achieve.

In a study performed to investigate conditions present in many older landfills in Germany, Kriirnpelbeck (1999) discovered that considerable methane emissions occur particularly in the transition period between active and passive aftercare measures, when active gas extraction, gas-utilization and/or flaring are no longer operating smoothly. Moreover, the period of “unusable” methane formation below the capability of standard flare equipment to burn-off, may last from several decades up to 100 years, this extended period will lead to the total volume of emitted landfill gas accumulating to provide an amount of gas which is consequently no longer negligible, particularly with respect to global warming.

Unfortunately, the rate of landfill gas production is reduced by the reduction of infiltration of rainfall which occurs after capping. For the best ability for the landfill gas to be produced and captured before the end of the active and passive aftercare stages, it would be better not to cap the landfills as is required by normal practise and regulations almost everywhere. Not capping would best serve the vital requirement for overall minimisation of methane gas emission in order to limit climate change from the landfill gas lost to the atmosphere.

Visit A Landfill in 2012 and Appreciate Your Environment!

Hi! Happy New Year Landfill CQA-ers!

What about this to contribute to your list of New Year’s Resolutions?

I was under the impression that you may be interested in my passing on the contents of the e-mail below which came from a customer. I suspect that there should be many of us who, like him, have busy lives and before 2011, never gave waste disposal any thought.

“For 43 years I have been someone that never truly finished the concept ; when I toss stuff away it goes… I have given myself an excellent gift this year ; call it a trip, if you like, but I took myself to my town’s landfill and had my eyes opened for the 1st time. Perhaps the idea of somebody reaching their 40′s and still not being conscious of recycling is one that sounds fantastic, well, it’s the actual fact!

“I did not grow up imagining the Earth covered in over-flowing landfills, piles and heaps of rubbish as high as the tallest building. That wasn’t my experience.”

But because the concept of leaving too much waste for the Earth to handle is a sour fact today, I have started to teach myself.

I suspect I have always thought of using credit cards as not being real cash, I now see that is the same way as I viewed trash.

I know I have read about landfills becoming, well, full and the way in which that will set off a problem but till I took myself out to the site itself, I continued to have this immature idea that when I put something into the rubbish can, it just went – away.

Seeing, with my very own eyes, the area appointed for my community’s left-overs was like an enormous slap of reality. I was ultimately able to understand the concept ; “if I am not the only one throwing things away thoughtlessly, and if others are doing it as well, this space won’t last long at all.”

I was shocked at some of the things I saw at the town’s landfill, too.

There were pieces of furniture that, being somebody creative, I could see would make nice trash-to-treasures pieces. Perhaps these once beautiful and still useable items might be the one piece that brought the feeling of a room together, that finished what the room is to feel just like and express. As an alternative somebody tossed them out and they now take up a ton of space in a limited area and cause me stressfulness, not contentment.

I am lucky because my youngsters, who are early teens, have been taught about the significance of recycling and the significance of what we must do to keep the world from being buried in pointless trash. They’ve been concentrating on the lessons that have come their way, where as, I had to see it for myself before I might be galvanized to switch the way that I do things.

The pleasant news is, it only took one quick trip to the landfill, for me to come to my senses and make changes about the way In which I do things and about the way In which I think.

If we aren’t thinking worldwide when talking about waste, and what we are leaving behind, we aren’t being smart. Grab some youngsters, or some forty-somethings and take yourself on a field expedition that may, do for you what it probably did for me ; make the changes that are necessary for me to see what the grim reality of our situation is and change the way In which I do things. ”

Naturally I’m not advocating that you climb over a fence to go to a landfill. Most well run regional landfills today offer a resource centre where college students are educated about waste management and recycling during college trips, and a short telephone call to the landfill office before you leave should ensure you can select a point in time when the facility will be open.

Such facilities are typically found at the point where there’s also a landfill viewing point and the staff will be available to reply to any questions you could have. Whether or not the landfill does have a visitor resource centre in my experiences the staff, given sufficient advance notice will most times be pleased to meet any local resident and show them around their landfill for 30 minutes. Actually as residents we will do a lot to inspire our landfill operators to maintain the best standards when we do this.

Keeping a landfill neat is tough work, nonetheless it is a long way more rewarding if those doing it also feel the community cares about their landfill, instead of only ever just bitching when things go screwy.

Therefore, I say: ”how’s that for a New Year’s Promise”? Make that trip to a landfill! It may be quite an “conscience awakener” just as it was for our subscriber.

Who knows! You could even come back impressed if areas of the landfill have been well returned to their former condition.

Geomembranes, or liners, are a brilliant way to stop liquid loss or contamination. Picking the right sort of geomembrane for an application could be a confusing process.

When scanning the market you’ll come across a good spread of geomembrane liners. That is because of the unique wishes of numerous industries they’re used in. The sort of geomembrane that’s appropriate for a particular application relies upon 1 or 2 different factors. The scale of the liner required ; the sort of liquid which is to be stored, whether the area will contains dangerous or non-hazardous liquids ; the longevity needed, what sort of environment the liner will be exposed to ; what guarantees are required ; if the liner needs defence against UV rays ; and so on. These are only some of the major elements one has to consider before choosing a geomembrane liner for their requirements.

These geomembranes can be found in different materials like buttressed polyethylene, braced polypropylene, PVC, XR-5, and assorted geotextiles for protection of the liners or for filtration. The reason there are that many adaptations is due to the wide selection of application Geomembrane liners are utilised for. A pair broad examples of where liners are being used today are for applications like pool liners, canal liners, unsafe containment liners and non dangerous containment liners.

Relying on the use of the geomembrane liners, material with different traits is utilized. This has an effect on the installation procedures, lifespan and performance of the liner. There are numerous liner producing firms which offer geomembranes and other liner products on the web. These liner makers can supply an enormous spread of products and regularly resolve any questions you will have about which sort of geomembrane liner would suit your requirements best. The liners supplied by these makers are built in the plant to fit your necessities.

They may specialise in the production of custom built geomembrane linings for many sorts of applications like huge pools in all sizes and styles, canals, brief construction pools, waste pits, golfing course pool liners, oilfield fuels & waste, vapor barriers, correction linings, and many more. A couple of these liner producing corporations take orders from around the globe and supply liners that are simply folded for convenient and cost efficient shipping.

They use leading edge kit like radio frequency welders, advanced heat welders, stitching machines, and grommet & d-line machines to make liners, to meet the varied requirements of their clients and make sure the liners are leak proof. Article Source = “http://www.articlesbase.com/industrial-articles/selecting-the-right-geomembranes-for-your-needs-4997332.html”.

A secure or sanitary landfill is a carefully built and lined depression in the ground, or a landfill built on top of the ground, into which wastes are put. Whichever it is, the aim is to avoid any hydraulic connection between the wastes and the encircling environment, particularly groundwater. Essentially, a landfill is a bathtub in the ground , a double-lined landfill is one bath inside another. Bathtubs can leak in two ways : out the bottom or ott. HDPE landfill liners are the most well liked choice for lining landfills internationally and the best HDPE lining systems are generally “composite” systems with a mix of HDPE surface above a clay type material for extra protection.

There are 4 urgent elements in a secure landfill : a bottom liner, a leachate collection system, a cover, and the natural hydrogeologic setting. The natural setting can be selected to reduce the likelihood of wastes escaping to groundwater underneath a landfill. The 3 other elements must be engineered. Each one of these elements is important to success.

GUNDLE geomembranes were one of the first manufactured and are produced using high density polyethylene ( HDPE ). GUNDLE is produced in diverse thicknesses and with either smooth or structured surfaces.

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The acclaim for High Density Polyethylene ( HDPE ) is essentially due to its low initial material cost and excellent chemical resistance. This permits thicker sections to be used compared to other geomembrane materials. A thick, durable, HDPE liner can be placed in exposed applications where the price of other materials would be prohibitory. HDPE has fantastic chemical resistance which is frequently the driving force behind the choice of HDPE. HDPE is a field assembled lining material that cannot be practically built in the shop .

Legislations in several nations around the planet have driven the market for landfill liners making waste containment the single biggest use for HDPE liners. HDPE landfill liners are in most cases cost-effective, have glorious chemical resistance to most chemicals, and have predicted maunfacturer quoted lifetimes ( in a properly designed and built landfill ) of hundreds of years. Dependent on the level of containment required HDPE can be mixed with other lining materials ( or other HDPE layers ) to form multi-layer landfill liners for dangerous waste applications. HDPE is infrequently utilized in landfill caps however a low friction angle boundaries its application on steep slopes.

All HDPE projects, irrespective of size, must be installed by trained installers. HDPE is a versatile material which is used widely across all applications. One of the key uses of HDPE is for landfill base liners where its chemical resistance is used to good effect. HDPE can also be utilized in a mess of secondary containments, pond linings, and water containment projects. HDPE is best used as an exposed lining material, and has the UV resistance needed for years of outstanding service. The primary use of HDPE for the previous couple of years has been in waste containment.

HDPE materials practically do not change their properties inside temperature go from -60 degrees C to +60 degrees C. They are resistant to the most chemical substances : acid, salts, alkaline, fats and for example. HDPE membranes are not spoilt by fungus, microbes, are resistant against plant root growing and ultraviolet radiation and do not affect the standard of drinkable water.

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The makers claim that world experience of HDPE application confirms sturdy life-span of HDPE geomembranes, not less than fifty years.

The high density polyethylene surfaces are usually made of 97.5% polyethylene, 2.5% carbon black and other stabilizers for UV protection, aging protection, anti oxidants. The product does not contain softening agents that would migrate in time.

This material offers the highest tensile strength, impact, tear and puncture resistance. It was very good ESCR ( Environmental Stress Cracking Resistance ) and the highest resistance to chemicals. Its downside is its rigidity which makes handling and installation more difficult. HDPE is the in most situations the number one choice in landfill lining, insulation of chemical plants, roads, gas stations etc . As well as in mining, due to its chemical resistance.

There are nonetheless many other geomembranes like Puraflex. Puraflex is a real example of a new hydrocarbon and chemical resistant barrier membrane designed for containment, separation, environmental and groundwater protection projects. Its proved resistance to hydrocarbons and toxic commercial chemicals provides a inexpensive answer for brownfield developments.

When a Contractor has excess topsoil, may it be sold and used off-site without it being classed as a waste and therefore needing to be classified as a waste material?

Based on existing European Court caselaw, there is absolutely no reason why uncontaminated soils excavated from one site cannot be reused on a different site – so long as you use only so much as you need, and the soils are suitable (and certain to be used) for the proposed end use. In those circumstances the soils cannot be regarded as having been discarded, and therefore cannot be waste.

Existing EA guidance suggests that only on-site reuse is permissible, but this does not (and, to be fair, is not intended to) represent an accurate statement of the legal position. The existing guidance is there simply to discourage off-site reuse, but without actually saying it is illegal (which it isn’t).

The WFD will, at the very least, provide that uncontaminated soils which are certain to be reused on the source site are not waste (thus superseding the existing guidance document). But if the European Parliament (intent on slashing needless red tape) gets its way, the above will apply both to the source site AND any other site.

View the original article here

It’s important to note, however, that even if the above Environmental Permit exclusion doesn’t get expanded to include other sites, the legal position (based on existing caselaw) will remain unaltered, meaning that off-site reuse (where the requirements of suitability and certainty are met) remains perfectly legal, notwithstanding the Agency’s reluctance to advertise that fact.

A RANGE of events are being held across Edinburgh to mark this year’s Europe-wide Waste Reduction Week.Planned local actions include a waste reduction initiative by the Royal Bank of Scotland, where staff at its Gogarburn headquarters are being encouraged to make a pledge to reduce waste at work.

Betsy Reed, campaigns manager for Zero Waste Scotland, said: “European Week for Waste Reduction is a unique opportunity for everyone across Edinburgh to highlight their commitment to wasting less and recycling and reusing goods to both save ourselves money and reduce our carbon footprint.

“We can all play a part in helping Scotland become a place where we throw away less, reuse more and see waste as a resource. Together, we can truly lead the world in making Scotland a zero waste society.”

Running until November 28, the European Week for Waste Reduction 2010 aims to raise awareness of what individuals, organisations, community groups, education establishments and businesses can do to reduce waste by making simple changes to everyday behaviour.

View the original article here

European Directives

Arguably, the most important European legislation relevant to landfill containment is embodied within the Council Directive of 17 December 1979 on the protection of groundwater against pollution caused by certain dangerous substances (80/68/EEC) (CEC 1979).

The Annex to this Directive contains two lists of generic as well as specific compounds or substances.

List I contains the most damaging substances and their direct discharge to groundwater, that is without percolation through an unsaturated zone, is prohibited. Indirect discharge of List I substances is permissible only where prior investigation shows the groundwater to be permanently unsuitable for other uses. Direct and indirect discharges of

List II substances may be authorised only after prior investigation and should be limited so as to avoid pollution of the groundwater by those substances (Article 3.2; CEC 1979). List II includes, amongst others, ammoniacal nitrogen (NH3-N), and it must be assumed that Article 3.2 would encompass landfill leachates, since this constituent is singularly the most long lived and potentially problematical gross component of landfill generated liquors.

The severity of the Directive is mitigated by two factors:

Groundwater (Article 1.2(a); CEC 1979) is understood to be water that is below the surface in a zone of saturation, implying that indirect discharge through an unsaturated zone, in which attenuating processes remove the
polluting potential, is acceptable;

An exemption is made (Article 2(b); CEC 1979) for discharges that contain substances in lists I and II in a quantity or concentration so small as to obviate any present or future danger of deterioration in the quality of the receiving
water.

Taken together, these Articles suggest that controlled release of contaminants is permissible, so long as it is by indirect discharge and that attenuation in the unsaturated zone protects the groundwater.

More recently, a proposal for a Council Directive on the landfill of waste (91/C 190/01), submitted to the Commission on 23 April 1991 tightened the provisions of the Groundwater Directive by laying down landfill containment criteria irrespective of site specific conditions and knowledge of attenuation mechanisms.

Annex I (Section of the draft Directive requires that, with the exception of landfills for inert wastes only, the following containment criteria must be met, either by the presence of in situ natural strata, or to the same level of hydraulic containment by engineering measures (synthetic liners or amended soils):

• minimum thickness of 3 metres;
• maximum hydraulic conductivity of 1 x 10^-9 m sec.

For engineered liners in clay the thickness is normally 1 metre, minimum at a maximum hydraulic conductivity of 1 x 10^-9 m sec.

See also http://www.geofabrics.com/docs/UK_Environment_Agency_regulation_15.pdf

Disclaimer: This post is provided for educational purposes only. Readers must not rely on this information for landfill design projects, or any use where reliance is placed on the accuracy of this information. This page may not be updated. ALWAYS refer to the up to regulations issued by the local regulator. Use of this site is prohibited for any use in connection with compliance with regulations.

The rate of flow (flux – Q) per unit area of liquid through a liner is a function of the hydraulic conductivity (k) and the hydraulic head (i), and can be approximated by applying the following equation, attributed to Darcy:

Q=ki (1)

In the case of vertical flow under gravity, the hydraulic head (i) is defined as the height of liquid standing over the liner divided by the thickness of the liner. If the liner is perfectly drained and no leachate accumulates above it, but the liner remains saturated, then the hydraulic gradient is 1.0 and the flux of liquid is independent of the thickness of the liner. However, if a layer of liquid is allowed to accumulate above the liner, the head (i) is greater than 1.0 and the thickness of the lining layer exerts an influence on the flux.

European Community requirements, and many other national standards, specify a maximum hydraulic conductivity of 1 x 10^-9 m s” and the Table below shows the maximum permissible leakages assuming either perfect drainage or a 1 metre head of leachate above the liner.

Synthetic and composite liners.

Synthetic lining membranes possess hydraulic conductivities of between 1 x 10^-15 and 1 x 10^-16 m per second, and small samples of the materials may be considered essentially impermeable. The materials are laid as strips from rolls, or as sheets, with joining being achieved by on-site seam welding.

Quality Assurance checking during the installation of membranes is a standard procedure. Nevertheless, some flaws may be anticipated and the American Society of Civil Engineers suggests that an achievable performance level for such liners is a seepage loss rate of 200 litres per hectare per day (Bonaparte and Goss 1991).

A leakage rate of 200 litre per hectare per day is equivalent to an annual flux of 7 mm, for natural clay or amended soil liners.

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Great way to keep spills under control. Large 4 1/2 gallon pail of absorbent material. Simply scoop out absorbent and sprinkle it on spill.
Wait for absorption to occur.
When fully adsorbed scoop up waste for proper disposal.
May be land filled in accordance with local, state, and federal regulations.

If any residue remains on the floor, then reapply more absorbent and stir with a broom until all residue is absorbed. Sometimes this process must be done several time depending on the spill.
Note that floor might become slippery around the spill.
Keep used absorbent and place back in empty bucket and reseal with lid. Then remove stickers. Underneath it reads
“Bagged Used Absorbent Waste Only”. Also has customer service number under sticker.
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