Compaction behavior of synthetic and natural MSW samples in different compositions

Abstract

Compaction is the one of the most important stages of the storage process in landfills. Well-compacted municipal solid waste (MSW) occupies less volume than an uncompacted MSW sample of the same weight and provides a safer storage area. The composition of MSW changes in between countries and even cities. For that reason, for effective compaction, the composition effect should be investigated. In this study, effects of composition, degradation and energy on the compaction behavior of artificially-prepared and natural fresh and aged MSW samples were determined. Artificial samples were prepared in representative different compositions Europe (E-1), Turkey (T-1) and the USA (U-1) to examine the effect of the composition. In addition to the synthetic MSW samples, natural MSW samples were obtained from the municipal landfill area of Manisa, Turkey. The standard Proctor test results have shown that the highest maximum dry unit weight was observed with the U-1 composition, which has the lowest organic content and the highest metal content. The degradation effect was investigated on the natural samples. The degraded MSW sample (3-4 years) has significantly higher maximum dry unit weight than the fresh natural MSW sample because of its low organic content. According to the results of this study, with respect to the composition effect, the percentage of organic waste is the most important factor on the compaction behavior of MSWs. As paper, organic and plastic contents increase in the MSW composition the γdry-max value decreases and wopt increases. The ash content does it reversely, as such that any increase in γdry-max decreases the wopt value of the MSW.