CE 94: Geotechnical

Aspect of Landfill
Solid Waste Management
Pyramid
 Solid Waste - a consequence
of life
In early time, there is not any problem
A) Small amount of S.W
B) Large amount of land.

 Problems with the disposal of wastes can be traced from the

time when humans first began to congregate in tribes,
villages and communities and the accumulation of wastes
become a consequence of life.
 Throwing wastes into the unpaved streets, roadways and
vacant land led to the breeding of rats with their attendant
fleas carrying bubonic plague.
 The lack of S.W.M led to the epidemic of plague, the Black
Death, that killed half of the fourteenth Century Europeans.
 Solid Waste - a consequence
of life
• The public health control measures began in the
nineteenth century.
• Food wastes had to be collected and disposed of in a
sanitary manner to control rodents and flies the vectors of
disease.

Although nature has the capacity to dilute, disperse,

degrade, absorb, or otherwise reduce the impact of
unwanted residues in the atmosphere, in the waterways
and on the land, ecological imbalances have occurred
where the natural capacity had been exceeded.
Waste Generation in the Technological
age
The development of technological society can be traced at
the beginnings of industrial revolution.

Thus, along with the benefits of technology have also

come the problems associated with the disposal of the
resultant wastes.

Materials Flow and waste generation

1. Solid wastes are generated at the start of the process,
beginning with the mining of raw materials.
2. Solid wastes are generated at every step in the process
as raw materials are converted to goods for consumption .
 The effects of technological
advances
• Modern technological advances in the packaging of goods
a constantly changing set of parameters for the designer of
solid waste facilities.

• Increasing use of plastics and the use of frozen foods

reduce the quantities of food wastes in the home but
increase the quantities at agricultural processing plants.

• For example: the use of packaged meals, results in almost

no wastes in the home except for the packaging materials.

• These continuing changes present problems, because the

design must be functional and efficient over its useful life.
 Important questions to
answer
• Which elements of society generate the greatest
quantities of solid wastes and what is the nature
of these wastes?

• How can the quantities be minimized?

• What is the role of resource recovery?

• Can disposal and recovery technology keep up

with consumer product technology?
 Development of Solid
Waste Management
• Solid waste management may be defined as a system
associated with the control of generation, storage,
collection transfer and transport, processing and disposal
of solid wastes in a manner that is in accord with the best
principles of public health, economies, engineering
conservation, aesthetic and other environmental
considerations, and that is also responsive to public
attitudes.

• It include all administrative, financial, legal, planning and

engineering function involved in solution to all problems of
S.W
The solution may involve the
following:
• Political science
• City and regional planning
• Geography
• Economic
• Public health
• Sociology
• Demography
• Communications
• Conservation
• Engineering and material science
 Historical Development
The most commonly recognized methods for the
final disposal of solid waste at the turn of the
century were:
1) Dumping on land
2) Dumping in water
3) Plowing into the soil
4) Feeding to hogs
5) Reduction
6) Incineration
Not all of these methods were applicable to all types of
wastes.

In 1940sanitary landfills are known in USA

Functional Elements of Waste
Management System

1. The quantity and diverse nature of the

waste
2. The funding limitations for public services
3. The impact of technology
4. The emerging limitations in both energy
and raw materials
 Management of Solid waste

There are two fundamental objectives

of solid waste management.
To minimize the waste.
To manage the waste still produced.
 Various Activities Associated
With Solid Waste

• Waste Generation
• Processing at Source
• Collection
• Processing at a Central Facility
• Transportation and final disposal on
land
 Waste Generation
• Waste generation is an activity that is
not very controllable in future, more
control will be exercised over the
generation of wastes.
 Waste Handling and Separation,
Storage and Processing at the
Source
• Waste handling and separation involve that
activities associated with Management of wastes
until they are placed in storage containers for
collection.
• Handling also include the movement of loaded
containers to the point of collection.
• The best place to separate waste material for
reuse and recycling is at the source of generation.
• On-site storage is of primary importance because
of public health concerns and a esthetic
consideration
 Collection
• Collection not includes the gathering of
solid waste and recyclable materials, but
also the transport of these materials to the
location where the collection vehicle is
emptied.
• This location may be materials processing
facility, transfer station or land fill disposed
site.
• Different between small cities and Large
cities
 Separation, processing and
transformation of Solid
Wastes
The separation and processing of wastes that have been separated of the
source and the separation of commingled wastes usually occur at:
1- Materials recovery facility
2- Transfer stations
3- Combustion facilities
4- Disposal sites.
Processing often includes:
1- The separation of bulky items
2- Separation of waste components by size using
Screens, manual separation, size reduction by shredding, separation of
ferrous metals, volume reduction by compaction and combustion.
Transformation processes are used to
• Reduce the volume and weight of waste
• Recover conversion products and energy
Organic material in MSW can be transformed by variety of chemical and
biological processes such as combustion and composting
Sorting plant
 Transfer, transport and
disposal of Solid Wastes
Transfer and transport – involve two steps
1. Transfer waste from the smaller collection vehicle to the larger
transport equipment
2. The subsequent transport of the wastes usually over long distances
to processing or disposal site.

Disposal
The final fictional element in the S.W.M. system is disposal

A modern sanitary landfill is not a dump it is engineered facility used for

disposing of SW on land with out creating nuisances or hazards to
public health or safety. Such as the breeding of rats and insects and the
contamination of ground water.
 Waste Transformation
After recovery of various resources from a waste,
the residual material may be subjected to a
variety of processes to reduce the volume of
waste requiring disposal. Treatment process
may involve
• Shredding
• Size separation (screening)
• Volume Reduction by thermal treatment or
compaction
• Encapsulation (to reduce toxicity)
These processes help in reducing the final land
areas required for waste disposal
 Integrated Solid
Waste Management
Integrated Approach of ISWM
ISWM can be defined as the selection and application
of suitable techniques, technologies and
management programs to a chives specific waste
management objectives and goals.
For all types of waste generated, an integrated solid
waste management follow the following options in
order of Hierarchy.
• Waste Reduction at Source
• Resource Recovery Through Separation and
Recycling
• Resource Recovery Through Waste Processing
• Waste Transformation
• Waste Disposal on Land
3R Approach Solid Waste
Management
HIERARCHY OF PARADIGM SHIFT FOR THE
PREFERRED SOLID WASTE 21ST CENTURY
MANAGEMENT
STRATEGIES

PARADIG
M SHIFT
 3R Approach Solid Waste
Management
Waste hierarchy refers to 3 Rs
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
 3R Approach Solid Waste
Management

Three main components of waste

management
1. Minimizing the amount of
waste we generate (source
reduction)
2. Recovering waste materials
and finding ways to recycle
them
3. Disposing of waste safely and
effectively
Strategies of Solid waste
management
 Waste Reduction at Source
• Source reduction is the most effective way
to minimize waste.
• Waste reduction may occur through proper
design, manufacture and packing of
products with minimum toxicity, minimum
volume of material and longer useful life.
 WHAT SHOULD BE DONE
• Reduce Waste
- Reduce office paper waste by implementing a formal
policy to duplex all draft reports and by making training
manuals and personnel information available
electronically.

- Improve product design to use less materials.

- Redesign packaging to eliminate excess material while

maintaining strength.

- Work with customers to design and implement a

packaging return program.

- Switch to reusable transport containers.

- Purchase products in bulk.

 Resource Recovery Through
Separation and Recycling
Recycling involves
• Separation of waste materials
• Preparation of separated fractions for
reuse
• Reprocessing and remanufacturing
• Reuse of prepared material
Materials in MSW which can be
separated and recycled
• Paper
• Glass
• Plastic
• Ferrous metals
• Aluminium cans

Recycling is a good process as it reduces the

volume of waste to be disposed off on land.
Recyclable materials
 What should be done?
• Recycling solid
waste
 Minimizing
packaging
 Recycleable
Paper, plastics,
metals, glass, wood
 Reusable ?
Textiles, leather,
rubber, metals, wood
 Compostable
Yard trimmings, food
“By recycling almost 8 million tons of metals (which includes aluminum, steel,
and mixed metals), we eliminated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions totaling
more than 26 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO2E). This
is equivalent to removing more than 5 million cars from the road for one year.”
 WHAT SHOULD BE DONE
Reuse

- Reuse corrugated moving boxes internally.

- Reuse office furniture and supplies, such as interoffice

envelopes, file folders, and paper.

- Use durable towels, tablecloths, napkins, dishes, cups,

and glasses.

- Use incoming packaging materials for outgoing

shipments.

- Encourage employees to reuse office materials rather

than purchase new ones.
 Resource Recovery Through
Waste Transformation
Waste processing involves the physical, chemical or
biological alterations of wastes to recover products for
reuse. The various techniques used for this are
• Biological Treatment
• Composting
• Anaerobic digestion/Biogasification
• Thermal Treatment
• Incineration
• Refuse Derived Fuel Burning
• Physical Treatment
• Making building blocks/bricks from inert waste
• Chemical Treatment
• To recover compounds such as glucose, synthetic oil and
cellulose acetate etc.
 Useful options

• Resource • Energy recovery

recovery • Incineration
• Composting • Pyrolysis
• Vermicomposti • Gasification
ng • Bio-methanation or
anaerobic
digestion
 Waste Transformation

The physical, chemical and biological transformations that

can be applied to MSW are used to:
1. Improve the efficiency of SWM
2. Recover reusable and recyclable materials
3. Recover conversion products ( compost )

The transformation of waste usually results in the reduced

use of landfill capacity
 Landfilling of Solid Wastes

Landfilling use for:

1. Wastes that cannot be recycled
2. The residual matter remaining after separated and
recovery facility
3. The residual matter remaining after the recovery of
conversion products or energy

Landfilling is the lowest in the Itegrated Solid Waste

Management Heirarchy because it represents the least
desirable means of dealing with so cite wastes.
Planning for Integrated Waste
Management
Developing and implementing an ISWM plan is
essentially local activity that involve:

1. Selection of the proper mix of alternative,

2. Technologies to meet changing local waste
management needs,
3. Meeting legislative mandated.
 Available Alternatives and
Technologies for SWM that needs to
be addressed
1-What is the proper mix between:
A. The amount of waste separated for reuse and recycling
B. The amount of waste that is composted
C. The amount of waste that is combusted
D. The amount of waste that to be disposed of in landfills.

2- What technology should be used for collecting wastes separated at

the
source for separating waste components at materials recovery
facilities
(MRFs)

3- What is the proper timing for the application of various technologies

in an
ISWM system and how should decisions be made?
 Development of Effective
Integrated Solid Waste
Management
Effective ISWM system depends on:
1. Availability of reliable data on the characteristics of the
waste stream
2. Performance specifications for alternative technologies
3. Adequate cost information.

Some factors to consider include:

1. Changes in the quantities and composition of the waste
stream.
2. Changes in the specification and markets for recyclable
material.
3. Rapid developments in technology.
 Operations of Solid Waste
Management Systems
• The facilities that compose SWM system are often
identified as solid waste management system units.
• The planning and engineering of SWM units include social,
political and technical factors.

Management Issues
• Setting workable but protective regulatory standards
• Improving scientific methods for interpretation data.
• The goal is to understand the effects of very small
quantities of toxic components on the environment.
 Operations of Solid Waste
Management Systems
• Identification of hazardous and toxic consumer products
requiring special waste management units.
• Paying for improved waste management units
• Designating land disposal units at or near large urban
centers
• Establishing and maintaining more qualified managers to
develop and operate waste management Units.
• Future challenges and opportunities
• Changing consumption habits in society
• Reducing the volume of waste at the source.
• Making landfills safer (short and long term)
• Development of new technologies.
 END

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