Landfilling: Environmental Issues

Waste disposed of in a landfill is by its nature different from the material found in the surroundings of the landfill and thereby the landfill may potentially affect the surrounding environment. This may be in terms of attracting or repelling flora and fauna from the area and through the emission to air, soil and water caused by the processes stabilizing the waste in the landfill. The main factors controlling the actual environmental impacts from the landfilling are: the nature and amount of the waste landfilled, the geological and hydrological setting of the landfill, the landfill technology, the extent and quality of the technical environmental protection measures introduced, the daily operation and the timescale. This chapter describes the main potential environmental impacts from landfills. The modern landfill is able to avoid most of these impacts. However, in the planning and design of landfills it is important to understand the potential environmental impacts, which must be avoided. The emissions of landfill gas and leachate causing most of the environmental risks are described in detail in the chapters addressing specific landfill types: Chapter 10.5 (mineral waste landfill), Chapter 10.6 (reactor landfill) and Chapter 10.7 (pretreated waste landfill).