Land Disposal Practices in Europe and North America

This paper compares the land-based disposal of municipal and hazardous waste in Europe and North America, and the various disposal options are examined for each type of waste. It is concluded that landfill is still the most widely practised disposal method for most wastes in both continents. Other methods include composting, land farming, trenching/spraying, and deep underground disposal. More stringent controls on waste disposal are being introduced and a trend to seek greater uniformity of practice and standards is developing. However, local conditions, such as the nature of the wastes and the availability and nature of disposal sites, continue to work against this trend. There is no single method which is suitable for all wastes and for all conditions. The best environmental option for waste management will vary from place to place and waste to waste, therefore an imposed uniformity of practice is not in the best environmental interest.     

Underground disposal of hazardous waste in Israel – Design principles and conceptual approach

The careless or unprofessional handling of hazardous wastes in many places around the world led to severe damage of nature, concurrent with considerable long-term health risks to human beings. This motivated several countries to develop new secure and sustainable waste management strategies in order to enhance the future quality of nature and life. The process of world globalization and the coalescence of its markets increased the importance of formulation and implementation of accepted environmental standards. The rising environmental and ecological awareness in Israel puts the contemporary and common waste handling practices under close scrutiny. An intensive exchange of experiences with other countries is called for, so that the responsible authorities can formulate improved and sustainable waste management strategies, which are specifically tailored to the particular environmental, demographic, economic and political conditions of Israel.The German environmental protection and waste legislation demands an underground disposal of highly contaminated wastes, in order to guarantee that harmful substances are excluded durably from the biosphere. In view of its size and the political situation in Israel, this way of waste disposal seems to be an appropriate waste management strategy aimed at minimising the environmental risks, and the harmful effect of hostile actions against deposits of hazardous wastes. The German waste management policies and practices, which are based on many years of experience, are reviewed first as a guideline for safe long-term underground disposal of hazardous wastes in Israel. Using these guidelines, potentially suitable locations in Israel are selected with special reference to their geohydrological, geological and geomechanical conditions, and then they were evaluated using environmental criteria derived from German standards of waste disposal. The results of this preliminary environmental evaluation, and some relevant geomechanical designs, are presented and discussed. Finally, economic aspects, and further steps, which are needed to safeguard future implementation of the underground disposal system, are considered.     

Hazardous Waste: Future Consideration

In most industries the goods and money move in opposite directions, but in waste management the goods and money travel in the same direction. Consequently to the customer, quality of goods and service might be measured only by price. However, customers are now becoming more sensitive to factors such as environmental quality. They are also becoming aware of the range of disposal options, together with the names of the companies which operate these disposal or treatment sites. Essentially the options are: recyling and recovery, sea disposal, landfill, physico-chemical treatment, solidification, biological treatment and thermal destruction. The Control of Pollution Act 1974 requires that all landfill sites and treatment centres are licensed by the waste disposal authority. These authorities are obliged to act in the public interest, and hence there is a complex interaction of science and politics. This situation often gives rise to localized opposition to facilities which are needed by the community. The UK disposes of 83 per cent of its potentially difficult wastes to landfill whilst Holland disposes of 52 per cent via this route. The cost of disposal varies throughout Europe but, in general, prices in the UK are lower than in Europe, which has led to the importation of wastes from the continent. Economics applies to the waste-disposal industry as much as any other industry, therefore facilities are supplied in response to demand. Price alone will not always be adequate in obtaining the ‘best practical environmental option’. disposal the goods and the money go in the same direction, i.e. to the waste management contractor. This at first sight may not seem important until it is realized that the major control upon the quality of a service is, in fact, the satisfaction with the goods and service which the customer receives. In most cases it is sufficient that the customer disposes of the waste material in a legal manner. However, the judgement of quality of disposal could be of little consequence to him. The factors that concern a customer when he chooses a service include the price, the quality of service, market presentation and reputation. These factors apply in the waste management industry, but the difficulty for the customer is to judge the quality of the service and the market presentation or, more correctly in this case, the quality of operation of the waste contractor. If the latter two factors become difficult to judge, the price becomes a critical factor. This leads to a low standard of operation in the business where price competition becomes more important than the quality of the service. Companies are looking not just for the cheapest legal option but for the best option and what has been referred to as the ‘best practical environmental option’. In the UK the vast majority of hazardous waste disposal is carried out by private-sector companies. Therefore it is essential that the Government sets the correct framework, and that an examination is carried out as to whether the framework is satisfactory and whether it achieves the needs of the Government.     

Management of hazardous waste: a case study in India

A study of identification of hazardous waste generators, quantification and classification of hazardous wastes in accordance with Indian hazardous waste classification system in the five major industrial districts of Gujarat (covering 15 industrial estates) was carried for the purpose of hazardous waste management planning in the region. The contribution of hazardous waste generation by different sizes of generators is estimated. The total quantity of hazardous waste generated in these districts was about 0.44 million tonne per annum. On the basis of waste classification, it was found that waste category number 12 (sludge from effluent treatment plant) and waste category number 9 (waste from dye and dye intermediate units) were dominant among the other categories of wastes generation in each district. In order to reduce burden on land, the hazardous wastes suitable for recovery and recycling in the industrial regions have also been quantified at about 45% of the total quantity generated. Among this the maximum proportion of recyclable waste is from dye and dye intermediate units as sludge and residue which were being disposed off in low lying area in the country.

The study also provides information on the quantity of hazardous wastes which were suitable for secure landfill, with or without pre‐treatment, and for incineration. A plan for hazardous waste management for the region is proposed for implementation.     

Household hazardous waste in municipal landfills: contaminants in leachate

Household hazardous waste (HHW) includes waste from a number of household products such as paint, garden pesticides, pharmaceuticals, photographic chemicals, certain detergents, personal care products, fluorescent tubes, waste oil, heavy metal-containing batteries, wood treated with dangerous substances, waste electronic and electrical equipment and discarded CFC-containing equipment. Data on the amounts of HHW discarded are very limited and are hampered by insufficient definitions of what constitutes HHW. Consequently, the risks associated with the disposal of HHW to landfill have not been fully elucidated. This work has focused on the assessment of data concerning the presence of hazardous chemicals in leachates as evidence of the disposal of HHW in municipal landfills. Evidence is sought from a number of sources on the occurrence in landfill leachates of hazardous components (heavy metals and xenobiotic organic compounds [XOC]) from household products and the possible disposal-to-emissions pathways occurring within landfills. This review demonstrates that a broad range of xenobiotic compounds occurring in leachate can be linked to HHW but further work is required to assess whether such compounds pose a risk to the environment and human health as a result of leakage/seepage or through treatment and discharge.     

Above-Ground Landfill: The Engineered Approach

The UK waste management industry remains committed to landfill as the principal means of disposal for a large proportion of controlled wastes. Whilst the development of landfills above ground has been practised for many years in certain countries overseas, the concept has only become more widely accepted in the UK during the 1980s.
It is vital that such sites are well planned, designed, operated, and restored. In particular, such sites need to be well engineered, and the following key issues have to be addressed: (i) Site identification and assessment; (ii) Peripheral bunding; (iii) Filling and compaction; (iv) Drainage; (v) Water management; (vi) Landfill gas management; and (vii) Monitoring programmes.
The practice of above-ground landfilling is gaining greater acceptance in the UK. In certain respects such sites can have advantages over conventional infilling of voids.     

Development of a soil—waste interaction matrix for assessing land disposal of industrial wastes

Environmental impact assessment of industrial solid or liquid waste disposal on land is characterized by a soil—waste interaction matrix. Procedures are developed for the ranking of industrial liquid wastes and potential disposal sites. Wastes are described by parameters arranged into an effects group (human toxicity, groundwater toxicity, disease transmission potential), a behavioural performance subgroup (chemical and biological persistence, and sorption), a behavioural properties subgroup (viscosity, solubility, acidity/basicity), and a capacity-rate group (waste application rate). Soil-sites are described by parameters arranged into a soil-group (permeability, sorption), a hydrology group (water table gradient, infiltration) and a site group (distance to a point of use and thickness of the porous layer). A matrix format is used to combine waste parameter point scores (rows) with soil-site parameter point scores (columns), enabling the interactions to be quantified and related to acceptability levels. The matrix is intended for use by regulatory agencies as a tool in determining site suitability for the disposal of industrial wastes.     

A 3-D Graphical Database System for Landfill Operations Using GPS

Landfill space is an important commodity for landfill companies. It is desirable to develop an efficient tool to assist space management and monitor space consumption. When recyclable wastes or particular waste materials need to be retrieved from the landfill site, the excavation operations become more difficult without an efficient tool to provide waste information (i.e., location and type). In this paper, a methodology and several algorithms are proposed to develop a 3-D graphical database system (GDS) for landfill operations. A 3-D GDS not only monitors the space consumption of a landfill site, but can also provide exact locations and types of compacted waste that would later benefit the landfill excavation operations or recycling programs after the waste is covered.     

Community Planning for Small-Quantity Hazardous Waste Generators

Only recently has the small-quantity generator of hazardous waste come under federal or state regulation. The wastes produced by these generators, however, pose serious threats to health and environmental resources in almost every community. Local planners should and can design preventive strategies to deal with management of these wastes. Such strategies should include problem assessment, education programs, technical assistance to generators, and revision of local land use policy to prohibit improper disposal practices. This article presents new information useful to planners in assessing the problem in their communities, and it suggests elements of a planning approach to control the small-quantity hazardous waste stream.     

The effects of a hazardous and a domestic waste landfill on the trace organic quality of chalk groundwater at a site in East Anglia

As part of a research project to assess the effects of landfill leachates on groundwater quality thirteen boreholes within, around and down groundwater gradient from two adjacent domestic and hazardous wastes sites were sampled for trace organic quality.Results so far show that significant inorganic and gross organic (TOC) groundwater contamination does not occur more than a few metres from the landfill boundaries. Trace organic analyses indicate that the mineral oils, phenolic wastes and chlorinated solvents, known to have been tipped into the hazardous waste landfill, have now reached the water table, although only at low concentrations.     

Environmental experts in the motor industry

Hazardous wastes are posing the greatest threat to the environment than ever before. Indiscriminate transfer of technology from the Developed Nations for the production of highly hazardous chemicals can lead to a frequent contamination of the environment with the hazardous wastes. The situation appears to be very serious in many of the Third World Nations, where basic problems of water supply and sanitation still need a solution. Contamination of the ground and surface waters with hazardous materials is likely to increase in the developing countries, owing to lack of suitable monitoring techniques. Location of the industries producing hazardous chemicals in the crowded cities has to be prevented to obviate recurrence of serious catastrophes in future. The situation appears to be equally alarming in the developed countries, where ground and surface waters are at a greater risk of contamination with the hazardous wastes. Co disposal of solid chemical wastes with the municipal solid wastes will result in a greater contamination of the ground and surface waters, with longer lasting environmental effects. Hazardous gaseous spills can have serious environmental effects, particularly if the spills contain radioactive contaminants. The intensity of a hazardous gaseous spill can be greatly enhanced under abnormal meteorological conditions.     

Hazardous Waste Facility Siting A Role for Planners

Hazardous wastes present a critical environmental challenge for the United States in the 1980s. Part of the challenge involves cleaning up or containing abandoned and uncontrolled waste disposal sites. The larger part of the challenge is to properly manage the hazardous wastes that are keyed to the productivity of the national economy. This article briefly overviews what the wastes are and how much exists; what their potential is for adverse human health effects and environmental degradation; federal legislation designed to regulate hazardous wastes; and the nature of public opposition toward siting new facilities. This summary precedes a more in-depth discussion of research designed to assess land use suitability for siting new hazardous waste facilities based on water supply, and other physical and cultural siting criteria. Results indicate that initially suitable sites do exist for siting new facilities. Planners can play an important role by identifying suitable sites through their knowledge of land use, environment regulation, and with the aid of the screening process reported here.     

Optimal pricing and environmental improvement for a hazardous waste disposal supply chain with emission penalties

Hazardous waste management has become a municipal problem, associated with industrial development and changing consumption patterns. We study the hazardous waste management system as a supply chain with a disposal facility and a contractor, which serves customers with demand sensitive to price and environment impact. The government intervenes with this supply chain by imposing emission penalties that make the waste disposal facility responsible for reducing disposal process emissions. The Stackelberg game and Nash equilibrium are used to model the decision-making sequence between the disposal facility and the contractor. We specify different scenarios to model the hazardous waste management supply chain. The goal of this research is to find the optimal disposal service price and level of environmental improvement to mitigate adverse impacts and maximize profits. The applicability of dual-channel service in the hazardous waste supply chain is also investigated. Our study shows that the supply chain obtains the highest profit if both the disposal facility and the contractor operate in a centralized model. Under some scenarios, profitability improves if the disposal facility becomes active in waste collection and transportation under a dual-channel supply-chain model. Demand sensitivity to price and environmental impacts can affect the adopted level of improvement by disposal facilities.     

Healthcare Wastes: A World Health Organization Perspective on Waste Treatment and Disposal Options (Abridged)

During the last three decades, the World Health Organization has been actively involved in assisting countries and health authorities to improve their healthcare waste management. Wide disparities exist internationally on the standards of treatment and disposal of healthcare wastes which are achievable and sustainable in individual countries and localities. Three levels of practice can be identified: (i) a 'foundation' level in which some improvement in hospital hygiene and public health is achieved by removing wastes from wards to simple burning grounds and landfills, (ii) an 'intermediate' level whereby more organized collection and treatment is possible, and (iii) a more 'sophisticated' level involving treatment, enforcement of strict emission standards and landfilling regulations.
This paper summarizes the range of practices in use and the options for (a) thermal treatment, (b) alternative technologies, and (c) engineered landfill. Details are also given on some of the activities undertaken by the World Health Organization in the areas of advice and guidance, direct assistance and research.     

杭州天子岭垃圾填埋体土工性状试验研究

杭州天子岭废弃物填埋场是国内第一个规范化的山谷型卫生填埋场 ,填埋场的设计和运行都要求对固体废弃物的土工性质有一个比较清楚的认识。本文通过室内土工试验和原位测试等手段对天子岭垃圾填埋场固体废弃物的一些土工性质 ,如密度、含水量、比重、液限和塑限、渗透系数、压缩性、抗剪强度等进行了研究。     

Sewage Sludge Disposal in the UK: A New Challenge for the Next Twenty Years (Abridged)

The paper attempts to review current and future practices in the UK against a European background.
Sludge disposal has become a subject which is developing rapidly again and, since the presentation of this paper, there have been a number of developments, e.g. the adoption by the EC of its hazardous waste Directive in December 1991. Untreated sludge or sludge which is unsuitable for use in agriculture will be classified as a hazardous waste, subject to certain criteria. This makes the work on sludge classification even more crucial.     

Significance of the soil in environmental quality improvement--a review

The broad outlines of plant and animal ecology are indicated and ecosystems are defined. The impact of agriculture and industry on these systems is indicated. The major forces bringing about instability of the soil are pointed out. Wind erosion, water erosion, nutrient and oxygen balances are described in principle. Intensification and specialization of agriculture are described in some detail. These intensive practices are compared to the older “normal” agriculture. Hence, the courses of the modern agricultural problems in environmental pollution and waste management are indicated. The magnitude of the pesticide problem is defined and the need for regulation is emphasized. Special consideration is given to chlorinated hydrocarbons and mercury compounds. The process of eutrophication is defined and is described as a natural process. Sources of artificial enrichment of the water are described as well as city and rural waste water.The remedial measures that need to be taken to maintain and/or improve the environment are discussed. Systems of handling animal wastes are described in some detail. Dry, slurry, and wet systems are described in regard to management. The control of excessive fertilizer nutrients, pesticides, and agricultural chemicals including heavy metals is outlined in some detail. Animal manure management as a part of the soil fertility system is described. Nitrogen and phosphorus management is discussed in some detail. Utilization of city waste water and sewage treatment plant sludges are indicated. Solid waste disposal on the land as a means of environmental improvement is considered from the point of view of disposing of raw sewage, sewage sludge, and solid wastes generally. Fruit and vegetable processing wastes can be treated by a process of overland flow in order to bring about adequate oxidation of these wastes. Wastes from packing plants for animal processing are much stronger wastes and require more complex treatment than fruit and vegetable processing wastes. Oil-spills as a pollutant on land are described in more or less quantitative terms. Remedial measures are given.     

Municipal landfill leachates: A significant source for new and emerging pollutants

Landfills have historically remained the most common methods of organized waste disposal and still remain so in many regions of the world. Thus, they may contain wastes resulting from several decades of disposal and decomposition with subsequent release of organic compounds that may have environmental, wildlife and human health consequences. Products containing different types of additives with unique beneficial improvement properties are in daily use. However, when these products are decomposed, additives are release into the environment, some of which have been shown to have negative environmental impacts, resulting in the ban or at least restricted application of some chemicals. New and emerging compounds are continuously discovered in the environment. Herein, we report qualitative and quantitative data on the occurrence of new and emerging compounds with increasing environmental and public health concern in water- and particle phase of landfill leachates. Under normal environmental conditions, several of these chemicals are persistent high-volume products. Identified chemicals in the leachates at nanogram (ng) or microgram (μg) per liter levels include — chlorinated alkylphosphates such as tris(1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TCPP), N-butyl benzensulfonamide (NBBS), the insect repellent diethyl toluamide (DEET) and personal care products such as the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen and polycyclic musk compounds. Among new and emerging contaminants, perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) were measured in the water phase at concentrations up to 6231 ng/L. Compared with the other chemicals, PFCs were primarily distributed in water phase. An effective removal method for PFCs and other polar and persistent compounds from landfill leachates has been a major challenge, since commonly used treatment technologies are based on aeration and sedimentation. Thus, the present study has shown that municipal landfill leachates may represent a significant source of concern for legacy, new and emerging chemicals in groundwater.     

Landfill Site Selection: A Microcomputer Expert System

Sanitary landfills are common facilities for waste disposal. The process of designating a location as a landfill requires extensive studies of biogeochemical and hydrologic characteristics of all potential sites. This process demands a considerable amount of empirical inputs, expert opinions, and heuristic rules. A site selection process can be modeled only by incorporating the available empirical and expert rules into our decision making process. This task can be accomplished in the framework of knowledge-based expert systems. A prototype expert system for site selection is presented. The rules are based on U.S. EPA documents for ranking of uncontrolled hazardous waste sites for remedial actions. They include rules concerning ground water routes, local climate, waste characteristics, planned features of the proposed landfill facility, and targets at risk. The above model is programmed with the aid of Insight 2+, which is a microcomputer shell program.     

污泥焚烧灰渣无害化处理及其资源化利用技术研究

污水厂污泥焚烧是一种有效的减量化处理方式,焚烧产生的污泥焚烧灰渣通常被运到填埋场进行填埋处置.根据污泥灰渣的物理特性,对其进行了急性毒性分析和水化活性分析,并经过无害化处理的污泥焚烧灰渣寻找到了使其资源化利用的新方法,即固化后制成的路基材料.用该法制成的路基材料抗压强度满足规定的技术要求,同时,重金属浸出毒性也满足国家固体废物排放标准的要求.