Analysis and Design of Engineered Landfill for Solid Waste Management in Australia

This article discusses the analysis and design of engineered landfill for solid waste management in Australia. It explores the techniques used in landfilling, the advantages and disadvantages of these techniques, and proposes the use of bioreactor landfill system as a solution. The article also provides references for further reading.

Analysis and Design of Engineered Landfill for Solid Waste Management in Australia 1
ANALYSIS AND DESIGN OF ENGINEERED LANDFILL FOR SOLID WASTE
MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA
LANDFILL
By (Student’s Name)
Professor’s Name
College
Course
Date

Analysis and Design of Engineered Landfill for Solid Waste Management in Australia 2
ANALYSIS AND DESIGN OF ENGINEERED LANDFILL FOR SOLID WASTE
MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA
LANDFILL
Landfills dominate Australian waste infrastructure stock hence receiving forty percent of
the country’s waste. The landfills are preferred sites for mixed waste, primarily because of
capacity and availability of facilitates alongside moderate landfilling cost as opposed to
alternatives to recover additional resources. The 1168 operational landfills (unlicensed and
licensed) receive twenty millions tonnes of waste every year. Landfill differ in sizes from small
trench-oriented facilities that receive below 1000 tonnes per year, to big, engineered facilities
can receive over 100,000 tonnes every year.
The latest analysis of landfill survey data by WMAA discovered that some 75% of
overall waste disposal occur in enormous landfills. A huge proportion of landfill operate carry
out pre-disposal resource recovery tasks, specifically in terms of garden organics composing,
C&D waste sorting as well as recycling, and household recyclable materials household. Pre-
disposal resource recovery is increasingly becoming commonplace and various jurisdictions
count practice as approval condition for landfill facilities.
Whereas novel methods of hazardous waste disposal are being developed in Australia, it
seems that landfill shall, at least in the meantime, remain to be the most preferred technique. This
is because land remains readily available commodity and usually non-productive areas or derelict
land is made available for disposal of waste. Land is usable in near vicinity or on industrial
companies’ premises hence reducing costs of transportation. There is also a potential to reclaim
some sites for purposes of recreational activities.

Analysis and Design of Engineered Landfill for Solid Waste Management in Australia 3
The landfill is using the concept of engineered landfill which was introduced after 1990s.
There has been increased uses of such techniques as landfill capping, leachate recycling and
waste segregations to minimize the negative effects of landfill on surrounding environs. Another
technique used is lining by utilizing impervious substance like compacted clay or artificial liners
like high-density polyethylene alongside geosynthetic clay liners (Ashwath and Venkatraman
2010).
Another landfills technique during operational phase is covering the waste with a topsoil
layer or local soil called “day cover” to evade waste and vermin intersecting hence preventing
waste from being blown away from landfill site as well as suppressing odour from these landfills.
Capping technique is also used when dumping is concluded by ensuring that the system of
capping remains sustainable for over thirty years using compacted cap. This clay cap is meant to
isolate enclosed waste from infiltration by surface water.
The system of capping assist in maintaining landfill site hydrological balance hence
accomplishing required moisture levels essential for degradation of waste while limiting extreme
percolation of water into capped waste. Other landfills techniques like using GLC’s HDPE or
PVC liners alongside phyto-capping are being used to lower water percolation into Australian
landfills. Another technique that has been tested in Australian especially in Queensland is phyto-
capping which has proven effective than clay capping in reducing percolation of water into the
waste (Kumar and Khapre, 2017).
Backdrops, Disadvantages of Their Techniques
Landfilling remains the main disposal technique in Australia. However, in various
instances, landfilling areas are never chosen properly in terms of geological soil property,
topography, hydrogeology as well as climate. A careful consideration of the potential for the

Analysis and Design of Engineered Landfill for Solid Waste Management in Australia 4
surface or ground water contamination from leachate migration or surface-run off from the
landfill site is required. Moreover, even where the landfill site seems to have the correct
geophysical properties, its subsequent selection and utilization are never an absolute guarantee
that groundwater contamination will be escaped. This requires ongoing site alongside its
surrounding surveillance to ensure that hazardous waste are able to continue without posing any
threat to environment as well as general public (Burlakovs et al. 2017). This threat is being
lowered by having the landfill sites lined. For instance, plastic materials are used in the lining to
deter leaching into ground supplies.
The landfill techniques allows the putrescible waste to come in contact with water which
could trigger adverse effects on environment. Further, the landfill technique allows the entry of
extra water into waste which hastens biodegradation resulting in production of leachate and
emission of methane (Ashwath and Venkatraman 2010). The leachate disperse soluble
substances into the landfill surrounding hence posing severe environmental threat to the people.
The liners used in landfill fail after some period. Capping system sometimes fails leading to
negative environmental effects including emission of methane and generation of leachate. The
construction of clay caps is extremely expensive yet restrained lifespan as often fail to limit
water entry into waste because of cracking.
Solutions for Those Which Will Be Key Points and Act as Difference from Them and My
Technique
The proposed solution to challenges in the engineered landfill is to use the bioreactor
landfill system or technique. This will help solve the problem that cannot be engineered landfill
has failed to solve like lack of gas recovery system (Sivakumar, Lakshmikathan and Sathosh
2014). This technique or system changes the aim of landfilling to waste treatment instead of

Analysis and Design of Engineered Landfill for Solid Waste Management in Australia 5
waste storage and monitoring for many years without benefits. A bioreactor landfill system will
enhance refuse degradation using microbial action. The microbial degradation will be facilitated
through the technique of adding some elements like oxygen, nutrients and moisture while
controlling other elements like pH and temperature.
The technique that will be used to create bioreactor landfill is leachate recirculation since
water is the factor limiting microbial activities in the landfill. The leachate recirculation will
surge refuse moisture content thereby promoting degradation. Another technique will be to allow
a provision for recirculation of leachate and collection of landfill gas (Alam, Hossain and Samir
2017). This system has proved sustainable and eco-friendly in terms of consequences to the
environment, costs as well as minimal social impact.

Analysis and Design of Engineered Landfill for Solid Waste Management in Australia 6
References
Alam, M.Z., Hossain, M.S. and Samir, S., 2017. Performance Evaluation of a Bioreactor Landfill
Operation. Geotechnical Frontiers, pp.267-273.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315865678_Performance_Evaluation_of_a_Bioreactor
_Landfill_Operation
Ashwath, N. and Venkatraman, K., 2010. Phytocapping: An alternative technique for landfill
remediation. International Journal of Environment and Waste Management, 6(1-2), pp.51-70.
file:///C:/Users/noahh/Downloads/IJEWM61-22010.pdf
Burlakovs, J., Kriipsalu, M., Klavins, M., Bhatnagar, A., Vincevica-Gaile, Z., Stenis, J., Jani, Y.,
Mykhaylenko, V., Denafas, G., Turkadze, T. and Hogland, M., 2017. Paradigms on landfill
mining: From dump site scavenging to ecosystem services revitalization. Resources,
Conservation and Recycling, 123, pp.73-84.
http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1125681/FULLTEXT02
Kumar, S. and Khapre, A., 2017. Phytocapping Technology for Sustainable Management of
Landfill Sites. In Phytoremediation of Environmental Pollutants (pp. 413-420). CRC Press.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Abhishek_Khapre2/publication/
323319420_Phytocapping_Technology_for_Sustainable_Management_of_Landfill_Sites/links/
5ab87a1645851515f59f4e6c/Phytocapping-Technology-for-Sustainable-Management-of-
Landfill-Sites.pdf
Sivakumar, B., Lakshmikathan, P. and Sathosh, L.G., 2014. Assessment of Landfill
Sustainability, 11(1), pp.41-66.
file:///C:/Users/noahh/Downloads/icsci_keynote_4_prof._g_l_sivakumar_babu.pdf

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