Evaluation of Greenwaste Mulch to Control Runoff Quality from Landfill Sites During Frequent Storms

Abstract

This paper describes a preliminary evaluation of two types of greenwaste (fresh and aged) used as a mulch layer to control runoff from disturbed landfill areas. Fresh greenwaste refers to woody and herbaceous garden waste that has been recently collected, chopped and shredded. Aged greenwaste is greenwaste which has been stockpiled for 18 months. We used rainfall simulator tests to investigate two aspects: (1) the performance of greenwaste mulch in reducing runoff during designed storm events with a high frequency of occurrence and (2) the release of pollutants via runoff as total suspended solids (TSS) and total organic carbon (TOC) during rain. Rainfall of <5-year average recurrence interval (ARI) was generally applied, consistent with stormwater compliance requirements for many Australian landfills. TOC released from fresh greenwaste material was higher in concentration than from aged greenwaste. However, when used as a 10-cm-deep mulch layer, fresh greenwaste was able to completely prevent runoff, even when tested under rainfalls of up to 50-year ARI duration. An equivalent mulch layer of aged greenwaste was also effective in reducing runoff volume and TSS concentration compared with the bare soil during a 3.5-year ARI rainfall, but mean TOC concentration was higher. Based on these preliminary results, fresh greenwaste mulching of bare soils is an attractive option to control runoff and erosion from areas subject to intermittent landfill operations and worthy of further investigations.