Quantification of regional leachate variance from municipal solid waste landfills in China

Na Yang; Anders Damgaard; Peter Kjeldsen; Li-Ming Shao; Pin-Jing He

doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2015.09.016

Quantification of regional leachate variance from municipal solid waste landfills in China

Na Yang, Anders Damgaard, Peter Kjeldsen, Li-Ming Shao, Pin-Jing He

Tongji University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

1750 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The quantity of leachate is crucial when assessing pollution emanating from municipal landfills. In most cases, existing leachate quantification measures only take into account one source - precipitation, which resulted in serious underestimation in China due to its waste properties: high moisture contents. To overcome this problem, a new estimation method was established considering two sources: (1) precipitation infiltrated throughout waste layers, which was simulated with the HELP model, (2) water squeezed out of the waste itself, which was theoretically calculated using actual data of Chinese waste. The two sources depended on climate conditions and waste characteristics, respectively, which both varied in different regions. In this study, 31 Chinese cities were investigated and classified into three geographic regions according to landfill leachate generation performance: northwestern China (China-NW) with semi-arid and temperate climate and waste moisture content of about 46.0%, northern China (China-N) with semi-humid and temperate climate and waste moisture content of about 58.2%, and southern China (China-S) with humid and sub-tropical/tropical climate and waste moisture content of about 58.2%. In China-NW, accumulated leachate amounts were very low and mainly the result of waste degradation, implying on-site spraying/irrigation or recirculation may be an economic approach to treatment. In China-N, water squeezed out of waste by compaction totaled 22-45% of overall leachate amounts in the first 40years, so decreasing the initial moisture content of waste arriving at landfills could reduce leachate generation. In China-S, the leachate generated by infiltrated precipitation after HDPE geomembranes in top cover started failing, contributed more than 60% of the overall amounts over 100years of landfilling. Therefore, the quality and placing of HDPE geomembranes in the top cover should be controlled strictly for the purpose of mitigation leachate generation.

Original language	English
Journal	Waste Management
Volume	46
Pages (from-to)	362-372
Number of pages	11
ISSN	0956-053X
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2015.09.016
Publication status	Published - 2015

Keywords

Hydrological modelling
Leachate generation
Municipal solid waste
Precipitation infiltration
Regional variation
Waste water squeezing

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1016/j.wasman.2015.09.016

2015 Yang et al Quantification of regional leachate variance from municipal solid waste landfills in China PostprintAccepted author manuscript, 1.18 MB

OpenUrl availability

Full text

Cite this

@article{ebbad392c033466facfba4f90791ec6e,

title = "Quantification of regional leachate variance from municipal solid waste landfills in China",

abstract = "The quantity of leachate is crucial when assessing pollution emanating from municipal landfills. In most cases, existing leachate quantification measures only take into account one source - precipitation, which resulted in serious underestimation in China due to its waste properties: high moisture contents. To overcome this problem, a new estimation method was established considering two sources: (1) precipitation infiltrated throughout waste layers, which was simulated with the HELP model, (2) water squeezed out of the waste itself, which was theoretically calculated using actual data of Chinese waste. The two sources depended on climate conditions and waste characteristics, respectively, which both varied in different regions. In this study, 31 Chinese cities were investigated and classified into three geographic regions according to landfill leachate generation performance: northwestern China (China-NW) with semi-arid and temperate climate and waste moisture content of about 46.0%, northern China (China-N) with semi-humid and temperate climate and waste moisture content of about 58.2%, and southern China (China-S) with humid and sub-tropical/tropical climate and waste moisture content of about 58.2%. In China-NW, accumulated leachate amounts were very low and mainly the result of waste degradation, implying on-site spraying/irrigation or recirculation may be an economic approach to treatment. In China-N, water squeezed out of waste by compaction totaled 22-45% of overall leachate amounts in the first 40years, so decreasing the initial moisture content of waste arriving at landfills could reduce leachate generation. In China-S, the leachate generated by infiltrated precipitation after HDPE geomembranes in top cover started failing, contributed more than 60% of the overall amounts over 100years of landfilling. Therefore, the quality and placing of HDPE geomembranes in the top cover should be controlled strictly for the purpose of mitigation leachate generation. ",

keywords = "Hydrological modelling, Leachate generation, Municipal solid waste, Precipitation infiltration, Regional variation, Waste water squeezing",

author = "Na Yang and Anders Damgaard and Peter Kjeldsen and Li-Ming Shao and Pin-Jing He",

year = "2015",

doi = "10.1016/j.wasman.2015.09.016",

language = "English",

volume = "46",

pages = "362--372",

journal = "Waste Management",

issn = "0956-053X",

publisher = "Elsevier",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Quantification of regional leachate variance from municipal solid waste landfills in China

AU - Yang, Na

AU - Damgaard, Anders

AU - Kjeldsen, Peter

AU - Shao, Li-Ming

AU - He, Pin-Jing

PY - 2015

Y1 - 2015

N2 - The quantity of leachate is crucial when assessing pollution emanating from municipal landfills. In most cases, existing leachate quantification measures only take into account one source - precipitation, which resulted in serious underestimation in China due to its waste properties: high moisture contents. To overcome this problem, a new estimation method was established considering two sources: (1) precipitation infiltrated throughout waste layers, which was simulated with the HELP model, (2) water squeezed out of the waste itself, which was theoretically calculated using actual data of Chinese waste. The two sources depended on climate conditions and waste characteristics, respectively, which both varied in different regions. In this study, 31 Chinese cities were investigated and classified into three geographic regions according to landfill leachate generation performance: northwestern China (China-NW) with semi-arid and temperate climate and waste moisture content of about 46.0%, northern China (China-N) with semi-humid and temperate climate and waste moisture content of about 58.2%, and southern China (China-S) with humid and sub-tropical/tropical climate and waste moisture content of about 58.2%. In China-NW, accumulated leachate amounts were very low and mainly the result of waste degradation, implying on-site spraying/irrigation or recirculation may be an economic approach to treatment. In China-N, water squeezed out of waste by compaction totaled 22-45% of overall leachate amounts in the first 40years, so decreasing the initial moisture content of waste arriving at landfills could reduce leachate generation. In China-S, the leachate generated by infiltrated precipitation after HDPE geomembranes in top cover started failing, contributed more than 60% of the overall amounts over 100years of landfilling. Therefore, the quality and placing of HDPE geomembranes in the top cover should be controlled strictly for the purpose of mitigation leachate generation.

AB - The quantity of leachate is crucial when assessing pollution emanating from municipal landfills. In most cases, existing leachate quantification measures only take into account one source - precipitation, which resulted in serious underestimation in China due to its waste properties: high moisture contents. To overcome this problem, a new estimation method was established considering two sources: (1) precipitation infiltrated throughout waste layers, which was simulated with the HELP model, (2) water squeezed out of the waste itself, which was theoretically calculated using actual data of Chinese waste. The two sources depended on climate conditions and waste characteristics, respectively, which both varied in different regions. In this study, 31 Chinese cities were investigated and classified into three geographic regions according to landfill leachate generation performance: northwestern China (China-NW) with semi-arid and temperate climate and waste moisture content of about 46.0%, northern China (China-N) with semi-humid and temperate climate and waste moisture content of about 58.2%, and southern China (China-S) with humid and sub-tropical/tropical climate and waste moisture content of about 58.2%. In China-NW, accumulated leachate amounts were very low and mainly the result of waste degradation, implying on-site spraying/irrigation or recirculation may be an economic approach to treatment. In China-N, water squeezed out of waste by compaction totaled 22-45% of overall leachate amounts in the first 40years, so decreasing the initial moisture content of waste arriving at landfills could reduce leachate generation. In China-S, the leachate generated by infiltrated precipitation after HDPE geomembranes in top cover started failing, contributed more than 60% of the overall amounts over 100years of landfilling. Therefore, the quality and placing of HDPE geomembranes in the top cover should be controlled strictly for the purpose of mitigation leachate generation.

KW - Hydrological modelling

KW - Leachate generation

KW - Municipal solid waste

KW - Precipitation infiltration

KW - Regional variation

KW - Waste water squeezing

U2 - 10.1016/j.wasman.2015.09.016

DO - 10.1016/j.wasman.2015.09.016

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 26424072

SN - 0956-053X

VL - 46

SP - 362

EP - 372

JO - Waste Management

JF - Waste Management

ER -

Quantification of regional leachate variance from municipal solid waste landfills in China

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

OpenUrl availability

Fingerprint

Cite this