Enhanced Landfill Mining in view of multiple resource recovery: a critical review

Abstract

a b s t r a c t In a circular economy material loops are closed by recycling of pre-consumer manufacturing scrap/ residues, urban mining of End-of-Life products and land !ll mining of historic (and future) urban waste streams. However, in the past land !ll mining was not performed with a focus on resource recovery. This paper addresses this gap by introducing the concept of Enhanced Land !ll Mining, de !ned as the safe conditioning, excavation and integrated valorization of land !lled waste streams as both materials and energy, using innovative transformation technologies and respecting the most stringent social and ecological criteria. The feasibility of ELFM is studied by synthesizing the research on the Closing the Circle project, the !rst ELFM project targeting the 18 million metric ton land !ll in Houthalen-Helchteren in the East of Belgium. It is argued that Environmental Impact Assessments of ELFM projects should be wide in scope and time. Embedded in a broad resource management perspective, the worldwide potential of ELFM is highlighted, in terms of climate gains, materials and energy utilization, job creation and land reclamation. The potential is quanti !ed for the EU-27 with its 150,000 e500,000 land !lls. However, for ELFM to reach its full potential, strategic policy decisions and tailored support systems, including combined incentives for material recycling, energy utilization and nature restoration, are required.