Innovative Bioreactor Landfill and Its Leachate and Landfill Gas Management

Abstract

AbstractThis publication introduces (a) the excellent leadership (XL) of the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), and its newly developed bioreactor landfill technology under Project XL; and (b) the special partnership of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the USEPA for transferring new US technologies (such as bioreactor landfill) to the developing countries and disseminating the technical information to the entire world. The entire bioreactor landfill is operated as a totally controlled engineering process reactor in which the solid waste is processed biologically, the emitted greenhouse gas (GHG) from anaerobic bioreactor landfill or hybrid bioreactor landfill is collected, treated, and reused, and the generated leachate from any type of the bioreactor landfill is recycled to the landfill for reprocessing. Not only the air pollution problem of landfill gas (LFG) and the water pollution problem of leachate are solved, but also the detention time for processing solid waste is shortened, so the landfill’s useful life is almost doubled. The bioreactor landfill topics covered in this publication include (a) the three types of bioreactor landfills: aerobic bioreactor landfill, anaerobic bioreactor landfill, and hybrid bioreactor landfill; (b) biochemical theory of bioreactor landfills; (c) design and operation considerations of bioreactor landfills; (d) potential advantages of bioreactor landfills; (e) bioreactor landfill performance reports; (f) revision to the US current municipal solid waste landfill (MSWLF) rules and regulations; (g) design criteria of Project XL bioreactor landfill projects; and (h) the US regulatory overview on Project XL concerning the newly developed bioreactor landfill.KeywordsAuthor memoirUS Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA)Project XLUnited Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)Technology transferMunicipal solid waste landfill (MSWLF)Bioreactor landfillLandfill gas (LFG)Greenhouse gas (GHG)MethaneLFG collectionLFG reuseLeachateLeachate recirculationAerobic bioreactor landfillAnaerobic bioreactor landfillHybrid bioreactor landfillBiochemical theoryDesign criteriaBioreactor landfill performanceBioreactor process advantagesUS regulatory overviewRevisions to the current MSWLF rules and regulations