Novel and Conventional Technologies for Landfill Leachates Treatment: A Review

Vincenzo Torretta,Navarro Ferronato,Athanasia Tolkou,Michela Airoldi,Ioannis Katsoyiannis

doi:10.3390/su9010009

Vincenzo Torretta, Navarro Ferronato + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su9010009

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Abstract

Municipal solid waste final disposal represents an environmental burden worldwide since landfilling, or open dumping, is still the preferred solution for the end of life of solid discarded materials. This study aims to review the technological innovations applied for landfill leachate treatment, taking into consideration the experiences obtained during the past years and the solutions which have been implemented. The review showed that both biological and physiochemical treatments are not able to achieve the requested water quality level, according to the limits established by regulations, whether applied in a single treatment or multiple treatments. In order to respect sustainable release limits to guarantee environmental protection, the construction of depuration systems and combining biological and physiochemical treatment methods is considered of the utmost importance. The review looks at possible joint applications of different treatment techniques reviewed by other studies and considers the state of the art of current research. Combined technical solutions suggested within the 2016 peer-reviewed papers are presented and discussed as a sustainable way to effectively treat landfill leachate, giving particular attention to feasible solutions for developing countries.

Highlights

Municipal solid waste (MSW) final disposal represents an environmental burden worldwide since landfilling, or open dumping, is still the preferred solution
The chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal can increase to 79%, while the percentage of the ammonia removal decreases from 75% to 60% along with the gradual increase of the biological oxygen demand (BOD) removal at 97%–99% [30]. These results indicate that treatment of leachate with Membrane Biological Reactor (MBR), applying a temperature slightly above 45 ◦ C, is suitable for the removal of COD and BOD, especially in the case in which the leachate to be treated has a high concentration of organic matter
The results suggested that Membrane-Aerated Biofilm Reactor (MABR) technology offers a good option for effective leachate treatment; it is used mostly for urban wastewater with a high BOD concentration and low chemical pollutant amounts

Summary

Introduction

Municipal solid waste (MSW) final disposal represents an environmental burden worldwide since landfilling, or open dumping, is still the preferred solution. A lack of suitable technological choices, especially in developing countries [1,2], means environmental pollution and risk for the health of the population due to the exposure to toxic compounds caused by the release of untreated leachate [3] and the dispersion of micro-pollutants into the atmosphere [4]. Dump sites in developing and emerging countries suffer from the lack of leachate treatment and caption facilities, causing the contamination of water bodies and soil and threatening human health [5,6]. There are clear directions for the reduction of MSW inflow to dump sites, following circular economy and 3Rs (reduce, reuse and recycle) principles which consist of opportunities to improve waste management through introducing waste introduction back into productive use [8].

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