Chapter 9

Disposal of Solid Waste

In this chapter, student will learn about:

Landfill and sanitary landfill
Layout and preliminary design of the landfills
Siting the landfill

At the end of this chapter, student should be able to:

To discover an appropriate requirement for sanitary landfill
siting
To calculate and construct landfill design
Landfill

Landfill is the disposal of waste into or onto land.

Today, landfill sites are constructed and operated to strict
technical standards in order to reduce environmental effects.

Most types of waste may be disposed of via landfill.

Land filling is the cheapest and simplest waste disposal
option.

Since 1960s Malaysian MSW was being managed by local
municipalities sitting of landfill in unwanted land.

Currently, 90% of MSW are disposed of into 130 dumping
sites.
Most are not sanitary land fill expect 10%.
2
Figure: Solid Waste Landfill
3
There are four types of landfill:

i.Sanitary landfills
Landfill that uses a clay liner to isolate the trash from the
environment.

ii.Municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills - uses a synthetic
(plastic) liner to isolate the trash from the environment.

iii.Construction and demolition waste landfills - consist of
the debris generated during the construction, renovation, and
demolition of buildings, roads, and bridges.

iv.Industrial Waste Landfills- nonhazardous solid waste,
consists of nonhazardous waste associated with manufacturing
and other industrial activities.
Types of Landfill
4
Figure: Types of landfill
5
Sanitary Landfill

Sanitary landfills are sites where waste is isolated from the
environment until it is safe through the biological, chemical, and
physical processes of nature.

Sanitary landfilling is the controlled disposal of waste on the
land, is well suited to developing countries as a means of
managing the disposal of wastes.

This landfill is most economic method, low initial investment,
operation in short time period, and completed site to dispose
waste.

However, sanitary landfill also has its own disadvantage
which is required daily maintenance, methane gases
management, leachate and biogas problem.
6
Figure: Sanitary Landfill
7
Preliminary Landfill Selection Criteria
Determine the maximum distance to haul.
Assemble the Geological Survey topographic maps for the
area and circle the maximum hauling radius on the assembled
maps.
Look for areas within the hauling radius which are relatively
high, have moderate relief (fairly flat, NO RAVINES), and
contain low permeability materials (clay).
Areas such as gravel pits, sloughs, and areas having a high
water table are seldom acceptable.
Consider the problems which may arise if zoning/zoning
change is required.
Do not locate in a 100-year flood plain.

8

Finding a number of sites which meet the necessary criteria.

Landfills must be one and half kilometer from an airport
[airstrip] in which propeller driven aircraft operatethree
kilometer for jet aircraft).

No landfills will be sited in areas that may adversely affect
endangered and threatened species or critical habitat.

A good working knowledge and rules is needed so sites
which obviously do not meet the rules can be eliminated.

9
Factors that are fundamental to the selection of a site for
sanitary landfill are as follows:

Useful Lifespan and Area of Site

Useful lifespan and area constitute the first of the factors and are
determined by the following parameters:
Depth of the fill
Quantity of waste,
Rate of delivery,
Characteristics of the solid waste and
Operating practice.

Factors for selection of sanitary landfill site
10
Topography

Topographic information is a basic requirement in the
development of an adequate facility design and determination
of the impact of the facility.
The importance of topography arises in part from the fact that
precipitation will pond easily on a relatively flat site.

Geology

Information on the geology of a site is required for properly
engineering a facility.
Such information serves three important purposes:
i. Identification of geological hazards,
ii. Provision of information for facility design, and
iii. Assessment of vulnerability of the site to
groundwater contamination due to the hydrogeology
of the site.
11
Soils
The availability of proper soil characteristics for the
construction of bottom liners, of cover systems, or both is
usually one of the more important considerations when
analysing and selecting a landfill site.
Important soil properties are:
particle size distribution (gradation or texture);
structure;
strength;
porosity;
activity; depth;
spatial distribution;
quantity;
liquefaction potential;
relationships between moisture,
density and permeability; and
workability
12
Physiographic Setting

The physiographic setting is a combination of climate,
topography, stream density, and geological structure.

Climate plays an important role on the design and operation
of a landfill because of its impact on the amount of rainwater
that may infiltrate through the unsaturated zone and into a
groundwater system.

Site Access and Transport

The cost of transport of waste to a potential site should be an
important consideration during the process of identifying a
location for a disposal site.

The optimum location would be one located at the centroid of
the waste collection area.
13