Existing Disposal Sites Research Articles

Integrating fuzzy-AHP and GIS for solid waste disposal site selection in Kenitra province, NW Morocco.

Selecting an optimal solid waste disposal site is one of the decisive waste management issues because unsuitable sites cause serious environmental and public health problems. In Kenitra province, northwest Morocco, sustainable disposal sites have become a major challenge due to rapid urbanization and population growth. In addition, the existing disposal sites are traditional and inappropriate. The objective of this study is to suggest potential suitable disposal sites using fuzzy logic and analytical hierarchy process (fuzzy-AHP) method integrated with geographic information system (GIS) techniques. For this purpose, thirteen factors affecting the selection process were involved. The results showed that 5% of the studied area is considered extremely suitable and scattered in the central-eastern parts, while 9% is considered almost unsuitable and distributed in the northern and southern parts. Thereafter, these results were validated using the area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristics (ROC). The AUC found was 57.1%, which is a moderate prediction's accuracy because the existing sites used in the validation's process were randomly selected. These results can assist relevant authorities and stakeholders for setting new solid waste disposal sites in Kenitra province.

Environmental impact from Riga city landfill, Latvia

Getlini waste disposal site has been the major landfill for Riga City since more than 20 years. Due to the conditions at the site and indications on contamination of the groundwater aquifers there were plans to close the site and establish a new landfill. However, those plans were later revised as it was found that the most appropriate alternative would be to remediate the old parts of the disposal site and continue the landfilling operations utilising modem technologies.
 Based on this information it was decided to carry out a feasibility study including investigations of the environmental impact from the existing disposal site and propose measures for remediation of existing contamination as well as recommendations on how to continue the operations in an environmentally acceptable way.
 The feasibility study was carried out by SWECO, in association with GeoKonsultants in accordance with an agreement with Riga City Council and financed by Sida and Riga City.

Evaluation of Suitability on Disposal Site According to Occurrence Status of Avian Influenza

Avian influenza, which is consistently occurring in Korea, caused the fastest propagation and huge damaging rate in history in November 2016. In this connection, some of problems are raised about suitability of the disposal sites and slow-prior action. This study conducted two analysis which status analysis with occurrence farm location information and evaluation of suitability with existing disposal site based on Standing Operating Procedure (SOP). As a result, prevention action criteria by Standing Operating Procedure (SOP) were not followed. Result of zonal statistics analysis about disposal sites, two of the five sites were not suitable for Avian influenza Standing Operating Procedure (SOP). Through, it is necessary to improve the Standing Operating Procedure (SOP) and the legal system in the future. Keywords: Avian Influenza, AI SOP, Disposal Site, Evaluation of Suitability, Analysis of Zonal Statistics

Using Geographic Information Systems to Determine Site Suitability for a Low-Level Radioactive Waste Storage Facility.

Radioactive waste is an inevitable product of using radioactive material in education and research activities, medical applications, energy generation, and weapons production. Low-level radioactive waste (LLW) makes up a majority of the radioactive waste produced in the United States. In 2010, over two million cubic feet of LLW were shipped to disposal sites. Despite efforts from several states and compacts as well as from private industry, the options for proper disposal of LLW remain limited. New methods for quickly identifying potential storage locations could alleviate current challenges and eventually provide additional sites and allow for adequate regional disposal of LLW. Furthermore, these methods need to be designed so that they are easily communicated to the public. A Geographic Information Systems (GIS) based method was developed to determine suitability of potential LLW disposal (or storage) sites. Criteria and other parameters of suitability were based on the Code of Federal Regulation (CFR) requirements as well as supporting literature and reports. The resultant method was used to assess areas suitable for further evaluation as prospective disposal sites in Louisiana. Criteria were derived from the 10 minimum requirements in 10 CFR Part 61.50, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Regulatory Guide 0902, and studies at existing disposal sites. A suitability formula was developed permitting the use of weighting factors and normalization of all criteria. Data were compiled into GIS data sets and analyzed on a cell grid of approximately 14,000 cells (covering 181,300 square kilometers) using the suitability formula. Requirements were analyzed for each cell using multiple criteria/sub-criteria as well as surrogates for unavailable datasets. Additional criteria were also added when appropriate. The method designed in this project proved to be sufficient for initial screening tests in determining the most suitable areas for prospective disposal (or storage) sites. Cells above 90%, 95%, and 99% suitability include respectively 404, 88, and 4 cells suitable for further analysis. With these areas identified, the next step in siting a LLW storage facility would be on-site analysis using additional requirements as specified by relevant regulatory guidelines. The GIS based method provides an easy, economic, efficient and effective means in evaluating potential sites for LLW storage facilities where sufficient GIS data exist.

Landfill Sites Identification Using GIS and Multi-Criteria Method: A Case Study of Intermediate City of Punjab, Pakistan

Escalation in population over time triggered the abrupt exploitation of natural resources for human survival trough industrialization that ultimately caused splendid increase in the waste generation. This industrial development resulted in the migration of rural community toward urban areas. Management of urban waste is a great challenge for the urban administration. However, technologies have been developed to manage the waste in environmental friendly and sustainable manner. Sanitary landfill sites are one of the latest methods of disposing the municipal solid waste in an environment friendly and sustainable manner. Government and administrative authorities are adopting this technology for the management of urban solid waste. Present study is about identifying landfill sites for the Sahiwal city with an area of 1160 square kilometer and projected population of 1.57 million persons in 2016. Geographical Information System (GIS) is used for the identification of appropriate landfill site (LFS) that can fulfill the need of city in future and is selected based on the sustainable and eco-friendly criteria. The criteria are developed keeping in view the proximity from several land-use features i.e. water bodies, roads, settlements, agricultural land, bare land and existing disposal sites. The weights of the criteria are quantified using pair-wise comparison method in Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The weights are incorporated in GIS spatial data environment and are assigned to proximity threshold of each criterion. Ultimately a map for each criterion is developed highlighting suitable, least suitable, less suitable and un-suitable areas with respect to each specific criterion. These maps are spatially overlaid which result in a final map that identifies most suitable landfill sites for solid waste disposal. The five identified sites are then prioritized based on their distances from the city center and area available. All identified sites are on the bare land and contain considerable buffer from environmentally sensitive receptors.

Leaching behaviour of mercury from hazardous solid waste generated by chlor-alkali industry

Through the conventional chlor-alkali production process, highly mercury (Hg) contaminated waste sludge is produced. Improper handling and disposal of this sludge may cause an environmental hazard. The leaching behaviour of Hg of land disposed mercurial sludge, originating from a chlor-alkali plant that still is in operation, was investigated using the German DIN 38414-S4 test. The total mercury content of the samples was above 1500 mg/kg, allowing the material to be classified as hazardous and high mercury waste. Concentrations of Hg in the leachates were higher than 0.02 mg/l stipulated by the 1991 EEC Landfill Directive Draft as a maximum limit for a waste that is to be landfilled. Total Hg contents and leachability differed markedly between the samples, pointing to a heterogeneity in the production of the sludge. The more limited release of Hg from one of the samples might reflect an ageing effect, or might reflect a better quality of the stabilization process at the time of production. Results indicate that the approach used to stabilize the sludge has not been sufficiently effective, and warrant caution about existing disposal sites and future management of these mercury containing waste materials.

Solid waste management in Croatia in response to the European Landfill Directive

The European Landfill Directive 99/31/EC represents the most influential piece of waste legislation on the management of municipal solid waste. In addition to technical standards regarding the design and location of landfills, it calls for a decrease in the amount of biodegradable waste landfilled. In order to meet the reduction targets set in the Landfill Directive, national solid waste strategies need to be changed. This article outlines the impact of the Landfill Directive on the Croatian waste management strategy and discusses the key challenges of its implementation. In addition, three scenarios of future waste management (mechanical biological pre-treatment, waste-to-energy and landfilling) have been investigated and evaluated regarding environmental impacts and affordability. The results of the analysis show that Croatia has transposed the said Directive into its own legislation in an exemplary way. The developed national waste management strategy foresees the set up of a separate collection of recyclables, waste pre-treatment of MSW, as well as the upgrading of existing disposal sites to sanitary landfills. However, the practical progress of carrying out provisions implemented on paper is lagging behind. Concerning the investigated scenarios the results of the evaluation indicate that mechanical biological pre-treatment in conjunction with separate collection of recyclables appears to be the most feasible option (in terms of economic and ecologic parameters). This result is in line with the proposed national waste management strategy.

Using GIS-Based Weighted Linear Combination Analysis and Remote Sensing Techniques to Select Optimum Solid Waste Disposal Sites within Mafraq City, Jordan

Landfill siting was determined within Mafraq City, Jordan, through the integration of geographic information system (GIS), weighted linear combination (WLC) analysis, and remote sensing techniques. Several parameters were collected from various sources in vector and raster GIS formats, and then, used within the GIS-based WLC analysis to select optimum solid waste disposal sites. Namely, urban areas, agricultural lands, access roads, surface aquifers, groundwater table, fault system, water wells, streams, and land slope were considered in this research. Also, the trend of urban expansion within the study area was monitored using the Landsat data of 1989, 1999, and 2009 to support the selection process of disposal sites. It is found that about 84% of the study area was within “most suitable” to “moderately suitable” classes for landfill sites, while the rest of the study area was within “poorly suitable” and “unsuitable” classes. Based on the analysis of Landsat satellite data the urban area was expanded of more than 240% during the last three decades, mainly toward south, and southwest, except the villages near the existing disposal site, where the trend was toward east and northeast. Finally, three sites were suggested as alternatives to the existing disposal site taking into the consideration the environmental, biophysical, and economical variables applied in the GIS-based WLC analysis.

Transforming an open dump into a sanitary landfill: a development effort in waste management

Upgrading a crude dump site into a sanitary landfill is a very challenging task; Matuail landfill site in Dhaka posed just such a challenge. From the very beginning, the existing disposal site had been used for the crude dumping of solid wastes. All types of solid wastes were haphazardly disposed of all over the site. The existing drainage channels of the dumping ground were not operational due to blockage by indiscriminate waste dumping. A large amount of leachate oozing out from the waste mixed with storm water and made the site esthetically very displeasing and environmentally unsound. This adverse situation sometimes caused disruption of the waste vehicular movement. Step-by-step improvement measures have been taken in the open dump to make it controlled and sanitary by adopting simple and locally available materials, technical guidelines, and construction techniques.

Solubility trapping in formation water as dominant CO2 sink in natural gas fields

Injecting CO(2) into deep geological strata is proposed as a safe and economically favourable means of storing CO(2) captured from industrial point sources. It is difficult, however, to assess the long-term consequences of CO(2) flooding in the subsurface from decadal observations of existing disposal sites. Both the site design and long-term safety modelling critically depend on how and where CO(2) will be stored in the site over its lifetime. Within a geological storage site, the injected CO(2) can dissolve in solution or precipitate as carbonate minerals. Here we identify and quantify the principal mechanism of CO(2) fluid phase removal in nine natural gas fields in North America, China and Europe, using noble gas and carbon isotope tracers. The natural gas fields investigated in our study are dominated by a CO(2) phase and provide a natural analogue for assessing the geological storage of anthropogenic CO(2) over millennial timescales. We find that in seven gas fields with siliciclastic or carbonate-dominated reservoir lithologies, dissolution in formation water at a pH of 5-5.8 is the sole major sink for CO(2). In two fields with siliciclastic reservoir lithologies, some CO(2) loss through precipitation as carbonate minerals cannot be ruled out, but can account for a maximum of 18 per cent of the loss of emplaced CO(2). In view of our findings that geological mineral fixation is a minor CO(2) trapping mechanism in natural gas fields, we suggest that long-term anthropogenic CO(2) storage models in similar geological systems should focus on the potential mobility of CO(2) dissolved in water.

The Solid Waste Management Scene in Greater Beirut

The magnitude of the solid waste problem in Beirut (Lebanon) is apparent to any onlooker. Waste collection has improved recently but is frequently incomplete and sometimes sporadic. Considerable labour problems exist and are made worse by the disruption from the aftermath of civil war. The most suitable future disposal methods have not been fully studied, and existing disposal sites and plants are near to saturation or collapse. In order to start a new waste management study correctly, the first step was to analyse the waste composition, characteristics and generation rates. The authors attempt to show that some form of incineration with energy recovery may be the preferred disposal option given the current local prevailing social conditions. Composting is argued to be the next choice. Direct landfill of untreated waste is the choice for the present time, but its continuance is open to question if new landfills are not identified and permitted to be used. © 1996 ISWA