Sustainable Landfills: The Future of Land Disposal

of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)

Patrick Hettiaratchi
Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering
& CEERE ( Center for Environmental Engineering Research & Education)
Faculty of Engineering, University of Calgary

Chair, Environmental Engineering Division (EED),

Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (CSCE)

April 17, 2003

Presentation to CSCE – Calgary Section
 Sustainable Landfills
Landfills that are designed and constructed to achieve
Sustainable Development (SD), or

…… designed and constructed using SD principles

Sustainable Development is “development that meets the

needs of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs (1987 UN
Commission on SD; Bruntland Report)”

Sustainable Development is “Common-Sense”

Sustainable Development & Engineering

SD is Common-Sense …….

Engineering is “common-sense application of

technology to meet human needs (current
and future)”
Engineers have no choice, but to apply
SD
principles in their practice
 Sustainable Infrastructure
 Sustainable Transportation

 Sustainable
 Sustainable Landfills
Landfills……
…… designed and constructed using SD principles
SD Principles….
Reduce
Reuse
Recycle (or recovery of Recyclables)
Recovery (of Energy and Compost)
Current Landfilling
Practice….
 Is this Sustainable?
 Are we applying SD principles in Landfill development now?
(you be the judge…..)
 Open Dumps, Sanitary Landfills and
Sustainable Landfills: a Natural Progression??
Past: We started with Open Dumps……..
(until someone showed that it is not a good practice)

But,
But still common practice in
most developing countries!!!!!
Today: We have converted Open Dumps to Sanitary
Landfills …..
Conventional “dry-tomb type” Sanitary Landfills are
designed and constructed to eliminate problems
associated with “Open Dumps”
 Problem: Landfill Leachate
 Leachate is “garbage juice” or an aqueous liquid produced
“within
Dry Tomb” landfill
the landfill
 Leachate can contaminate Groundwater (unseen) or Surface
Water (obvious)

 Prevention of GW contamination with bottom liner systems

Area A
Area B
Working Face (Area D)
Area C

Stream

X-section along the length

of the landfill
 Landfill Construction

Final cover

Daily cover

Intermediate cover
Leave it Alone !!!!!

RIP
 Problems with the Dry-tomb Sanitary
Landfillling Approach
 Un-sustainable??? Loss of Space…. Need to find new space
every few years (Toronto, Edmonton)
 Long-term liability: Need to monitor potential impact for a long-
time (until waste stability is achieved)
 Liability associated with landfill gas:

 Landfill gas contains CH4 and CO2 (both are GHGs)

1/3 of anthropogenic CH4 in USA come from Landfills
 If gas is extracted (for energy recovery)…. Possible to
minimize concerns
 In most cases, gas production is low; not economical to
extract methane gas for energy recovery
 Gas can be a major hazard (Ecuador example)
Zambisa Landfill (Quito, Ecuador)

X-section along the transverse direction

Zambisa Landfill (Quito, Ecuador)

X-section along the transverse direction

 Sustainable Landfill
The Concept:
 Holistic approach (not “piece-meal”)

 Increase biological activity in landfill cell; possible to

extract large quantities of gas in a short period of time
 Stabilize the waste quickly (Anaerobic and Aerobic)

 “Mine” the cell, and extract recyclables & compost

 Reuse space
Sustainable Landfill

Anaerobic Reactor
Sustainable Landfill

Aerobic Reactor
Sustainable Landfill Operation
(Calgary Biocell Concept)

Anaerobic Anaerobic
Year 1 Year 2

Mining/
Space Recovery
Anaerobic
Year 6 Year 3

Aerobic Aerobic
Year 5 Year 4
 Problems to Resolve
Moisture Distribution Within the Cell
What We Want…..

What We Get
 Leachate Pools:
Created by “over-zealous” Leachate Recirculation
 Problems to Resolve
Surface Gas Emissions
 Could occur during construction of the biocell (may
take 1 or 2 years to completely fill a cell)
 Significant quantities can escape from surface even with
a gas capture system
example: Loma Los Colorados Landfill, Chile
Loma Los Colorados Landfill, Chile
 Loma Los Colorados (contd…)
18
11
4 5
5
15
22
10 19
12
6
2 16
23
9 20
13
7
1 17
24
8 14 21
56
27
25 29
31
26
28 57
30

Disconnected gas well

Connected gas well 90 metres

Gas Wells
 Landfill Gas Incinerator

CH4 burned= 85 tonnes/year (or 330 m3/d)

 Loma Los Colorados Bioreactor Landfill
Landfill Methane Budget:

Total CH4 emitted/burned = 17,040 tonnes/year

(exclude “leachate pool” emissions)

More than 75% of the “produced methane gas” escapes

across the cover soil

(worth about $3 million/year in the “open Carbon

market”)
 Calgary Sustainable Biocell

 Pilot Project (1 hectare: 50,000 tonnes of waste)

 Partners/Participants: City of Calgary,

University of Calgary and Stantech Consultants

 Mitigation Measures:

 Biocap, or Methane Oxidation Layer (MOL),

to control methane gas emissions during
construction and operation
 Landfill Bio-Caps or MOLs

CO2
Commercial Emissions CH4 & CO2 Oxidation
Recovery Emissions In landfill cover
(Methanotrophs)

CH4 & CO2

Generation
CH4 & CO2 Lateral
Migration

 A new concept

 Use a naturally occurring bacteria to convert methane

 Biofiltration of CH4

Microbially mediated
oxidation of CH4 is carried
out by methanotrophic
bacteria

(Methylomonas methanica)
 CH4 Oxidation in Landfill Caps

100
% Methane Oxidized

80

60

40

20

0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Time (days)
 Conclusions
 Waste disposal has progressed from “open dumps” (in the
past) to “sanitary landfills” (in the present). Sustainable
Landfills could be the future.

 Sustainable landfilling follows a holistic approach. It is

consistent with the “current thinking” (in terms of SD).

 Technical challenges need to be overcome, before

Sustainable Landfill concept could be universally applied.

 Civil Engineers should take a lead to role to ensure SD

principles are adopted in the practice of land disposal.

Thank You!