Urban Landfill Research Articles

Construction and Demolition Waste in Romania: The Route from Illegal Dumping to Building Materials

The paper performs a critical overview concerning the construction and demolition waste (C&DW) management issues in Romania. Five main stages related to C&DW management are highlighted such as: (i) illegal dumping on public lands; (ii) C&DW collection and disposal in urban landfills; (iii) C&DW treatment and reuse in civil constructions (roads, coating material for landfills); (iv) regional integrated waste management systems; (v) recycling of building materials (e.g., cement industry and recycled aggregates). The paper reveals the poor monitoring of C&DW flows across Romanian counties and the geographical dimension of this waste stream collected by waste operators. The paper examines the current challenges in Romania and it reveals the future prospects to provide a reliable transition towards sustainable C&DW management activities. The targeted route: waste fractions can be recycled and/or reused as building materials via integrated waste management systems, which enable a circular economy in urban and rural municipalities.

Putrescible Waste Landfills as Bird Habitats in Urban Cities: A case from an Urban Landfill in the Colombo District of Sri Lanka

As putrescible waste landfills are reliable and rich sources of food, these man-made habitats can support large populations of avifauna composed of different feeding guilds. Unusually high population inflations of few opportunistic species of birds could impose a severe impact on the overall ecological balance. We studied the bird community in an open waste dump located in a highly urbanised area in the Colombo District, Sri Lanka. Bird census were performed using block counts in two contrasting sites of the landfill i.e., active dumping area and inactive dumping area between April 2015 and March 2016. Abundance and density of birds were significantly higher in the active dumping area than in the inactive area. The inactive dumping area accounted for the highest avifaunal richness, diversity and evenness. Bubulcus ibis and Corvussplendens were the dominant species at the active dump, and their foraging and social behaviors probably discouraged other bird species from exploiting food resources in the dump despite belonging to different feeding guilds. The forging bird community at the landfill exhibited seasonal variations in abundance and other interspecific interactions. Since the influx of large numbers of birds to landfills can potentially cause numerous environmental issues in urban areas, the current study highlights the importance of study of the seasonal patterns of bird communities in relation to location and management of landfills.

Multistage treatment technology for leachate from mature urban landfill: Full scale operation performance and challenges

In the present work, a multistage treatment strategy was applied to a mature urban leachate, at full scale. The treatment system consisted of (i) a sequential batch reactor (SBR), for nitrification/denitrification processes, followed by (ii) a coagulation/sedimentation (C/S) stage, (iii) an advanced oxidation process, in this case the photo-Fenton (PF) reaction, and (iv) a final SBR. Glycerol, a waste-product from biodiesel production, was successfully employed as an external carbon source for denitrification purposes. The C/S and PF stages were conducted in the same tank, which was coupled to 4 FluHelik photoreactors connected in series, thus enabling a compact solution for the multistage facility. The major operational difficulties were found in the: (i) C/S stage, due to the production of dense foam that trapped the sludge; and (ii) PF stage, for iron precipitation. These problems were overcome, respectively, with: (i) sludge removal after nitrite oxidation with hydrogen peroxide (intermediate step prior to PF); and (ii) maintenance of a residual amount of H2O2 before neutralization step. Each treatment sequence was applied to ca. 30 m3 of urban leachate after an aerated lagoon, leading to global removal efficiencies of 98% for COD (from 8.30 to 0.15 g O2/L), 97% for DOC (from 2.32 to 0.08 g C/L) and 85% for TN (from 2.65 to 0.41 g N/L). The sludge produced was also treated in-situ and the compliance with legal disposal standards was verified. The average total operational cost for the complete treatment sequence was 6.7 €/m3, including reagents, energy consumption, sludge treatment and respective disposal.

The occurrence of brominated flame retardants in the atmosphere of Gauteng Province, South Africa using polyurethane foam passive air samplers and assessment of human exposure

Polyurethane foam passive samplers were deployed between May 2016 and January 2017 to evaluate concentrations of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), selected alternative flame retardants (AFRs) and total hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD) (sum of α-, β-, and γ-HBCDD). The PUF air samplers were deployed in semi–urban, urban, industrial and landfill sites in Gauteng Province, South Africa. The acquired results presented a clear semi urban–industrial–urban–landfill concentration gradient for all BFRs measured. Taking into account 2 sampling periods (cold and warm periods) (n = 16), the atmospheric concentrations of ∑9PBDEs, HBCDDs and ∑AFRs were 100–2820 pg m−3, 12–117 pg m−3 and 41–4660 pg m−3, respectively, for the sparsely populated residential area, densely populated residential area, industrial area and the landfill area. In all cases, BDE 47, 99, and 209 were the most dominant congeners with high detection frequencies. The highest calculated daily exposure dose in Gauteng Province atmosphere was 0.61 and 1.54 ng kg −1 – bw d −1 for adults and children respectively. The estimated total intake of PBDEs was 0.47–33.4 ng kg −1 – bw d −1, which was generally below the lowest adverse effect limit (LOAEL), suggesting that the residents of Gauteng Province may not be significantly affected as a result of their exposure to these pollutants through inhalation. However, this does not necessarily suggest that the pollutants are harmless to human health, since they have the tendency to bioaccumulate in biological systems. Incidentally, this is the first study from Africa to report on the atmospheric concentrations of PBDEs, HBCDDs and AFRs in urban, landfill and industrial areas. The findings from this study further highlight the contributory role of landfills as potential sources of BFRs into the atmosphere.

Identification of a xenobiotic as a potential environmental trigger in primary biliary cholangitis

Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) is an autoimmune-associated chronic liver disease triggered by environmental factors, such as exposure to xenobiotics, which leads to a loss of tolerance to the lipoic acid-conjugated regions of the mitochondrial pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, typically to the E2 component. We aimed to identify xenobiotics that might be involved in the environmental triggering of PBC. Urban landfill and control soil samples from a region with high PBC incidence were screened for xenobiotic activities using analytical, cell-based xenobiotic receptor activation assays and toxicity screens. A variety of potential xenobiotic classes were ubiquitously present, as identified by their interaction with xenobiotic receptors - aryl hydrocarbon receptor, androgen receptor and peroxisome proliferator activated receptor alpha - in cell-based screens. In contrast, xenoestrogens were present at higher levels in soil extracts from around an urban landfill. Furthermore, two landfill sampling sites contained a chemical(s) that inhibited mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation and induced the apoptosis of a hepatic progenitor cell. The mitochondrial effect was also demonstrated in human liver cholangiocytes from three separate donors. The chemical was identified as the ionic liquid [3-methyl-1-octyl-1H-imidazol-3-ium]+ (M8OI) and the toxic effects were recapitulated using authentic pure chemical. A carboxylate-containing human hepatocyte metabolite of M8OI, bearing structural similarity to lipoic acid, was also enzymatically incorporated into the E2 component of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex via the exogenous lipoylation pathway in vitro. These results identify, for the first time, a xenobiotic in the environment that may be related to and/or be a component of an environmental trigger for PBC. Therefore, further study in experimental animal models is warranted, to determine the risk of exposure to these ionic liquids. Primary biliary cholangitis is a liver disease in which most patients have antibodies to mitochondrial proteins containing lipoic acid binding site(s). This paper identified a man-made chemical present in soils around a waste site. It was then shown that this chemical was metabolized into a product with structural similarity to lipoic acid, which was capable of replacing lipoic acid in mitochondrial proteins.

Methane variability associated with natural and anthropogenic sources in an Australian context

ABSTRACTCoal seam gas (CSG) has the potential to be a low-carbon transition fuel, but CSG fields may be a source of fugitive emissions of methane (CH4). We use mobile cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) measurements to attribute CH4 concentrations to sources in southeastern Australia including CSG fields. Our study shows higher CH4 concentration values associated with both natural and anthropogenic sources other than CSG. These include urban landfills (>320 ppm) and urban infrastructure (>17 ppm), agricultural activities (>20 ppm) and open-pit coal mines (>30 ppm). We confirm reports of increased concentration of CH4 downwind of some parts of CSG fields (<5 ppm), but elevated concentrations are not endemic and could not be separated from contributions of natural geological seeps (>16 ppm) that form part of the background levels. While CRDS allows direct determination of CH4 sources, repeat measurements show the strong influence of atmospheric conditions on concentration and highlight the need for methods that quantify flux.

A Combined Evaporation and Microalgal Cultivation Approach for Efficient Treatment of Landfill Leachate: Batch and Continuous Experiments and Process Simulation

Leachate from landfill is one of the most relevant unsolved environmental issues, in particular related to the high ammonia content. In this work, the possibility of treating this waste stream with a combined approach that includes both physical and biological treatment was assessed. The process is composed by a first evaporation/condensation step in an innovative industrial technology (WastWa) developed by Solwa SrL, that allows separating an aqueous stream in which about half of the water volume and most of the ammonia are recovered, and a concentrated leachate stream. The ammonia-rich water stream can be then sent to a microalgal cultivation step for N removal, while the concentrated waste can either be partially used to provide micronutrients for microalgal growth or delivered to phytodepuration. The feasibility of the process was tested at lab scale by carrying out both batch and continuous experiments with Acutodesmus obliquus, a microalgal species isolated from a pond containing pretreated leachate from an urban landfill located in Lazio (Italy). This strain was cultivated both in untreated leachate and in the aqueous outlet stream of the WastWa unit. A simulation model of the microalgal growth process was implemented in Aspen Plus, keeping into account the chemical equilibrium and ionic speciation of the nutrients in solution as well as the pH. The model was able to reproduce well the experimental data, and can therefore be a useful tool to evaluate the feasibility of the proposed process at large-scale.

Aspects Regarding the Collection and Removal of Rainfall Water on Landfill Final Cover

This paper presents an analysis of the rainwater flow on the final cover slopes of an urban landfill so as to ensure the drainage of infiltrate water through the drainage layer applied across the geomembrane of cover layer, with a runoff coefficient as low as possible. It is presented a calculation model for the transmissivity of the drainage layer depending on the thickness and on its hydraulic characteristics and also on the topsoil layer applied to the surface, as well as depending on the coating slope length. This calculation is made for both a side with a single slope (tilt) as well as for sides with two slopes. Also it is presented a mathematical model for the hydraulic calculation of surface water drainage ditches drained through the drainage layers, but also through the surface runoff, in order to establish the optimal drainage section.

REUSE OF A CLOSED LANDFILL SITE FOR INSTALLATION AND OPERATION OF A BIOMASS UTILIZATION PLANT

The professional management of landfills during operation and after landfill capping is an important task to prevent environmental impacts. Landfill maintenance after closure can become economically favourable if landfill sites can be reused. Several approaches and experiences for reuse of capped landfills exist for example in livestock farming or installation and operation of solar power plants. Also the utilization for spare time activities after green capping and recreation or the industrial reuse for the development of a waste utilization plant is a common practice in Europe. The feasibility of reuse options depend on the site conditions including size and location of the landfill, the climatic conditions and the interests of the involved stakeholders. For the urban landfill site Gò Cát in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) experts from Germany and Vietnam developed a variant assessment for the preferred reuse options. One of three investigated options is considering the reuse of the landfill site for the development of a biomass utilization plant. In terms of the above described approach for Gò Cát the landfill operator is strongly involved in the landfill closure and long term maintenance works (leachate treatment, landfill gas utilization). Moreover, the operator can reuse the landfill site for an additional or new business. The design and operation criteria for the biomass utilization plant and best practice examples are presented. Beside the economic evaluation results of water and landfill gas balance will be discussed.

Leachate characterisation and evaluation of leachate pollution potential of urban municipal landfill sites

Toxic materials from unorganised dumping site leached out in the form of leachate and pollute the groundwater that results in significant impacts on the human health and environment. Management of this highly toxic leachate is essential for assessing the impact of municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills to ensure least environmental impact. The aim of this study is to assess the leachate characteristics and pollution potential index (LPI) of two major MSW landfills of Varanasi, city namely Karsara and Ramna. Leachate samples were collected from Karsara and Ramna landfill sites and analysed for 27 leachate quality parameters. The concentration of contaminants present in leachate at Karsara landfill site is comparatively greater than that of Ramna landfill site which indicates that Karsara landfill site is more polluted than Ramna landfill site. Twelve most significant parameters like pH, TDS, BOD5, COD, arsenic, chloride, chromium, copper, iron lead, nickel, and zinc are considered to estimate the leachate pollution potential. Karsara landfill site was found the highest LPI value (16.81) as compared to Ramna landfill site (12.40). LPI value indicates that the leachate generated from both the landfill site is hazardous. Hence active post-closure monitoring is necessary till the leachate production is stabilised.

Urban biochar improves nitrogen and phosphorus availability in growing media

The purpose of this study was to substitute sphagnum peat from plant growing media with urban biochar (UB) and evaluate its impact on nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) availability. The UB was produced from the pyrolysis (650°C) of a 2 : 1 ratio of biosolids to green waste. We compared three mixes – 20% sphagnum peat mixed with composted pine bark (B0), 20% UB mixed with composted pine bark (B20) and 60% UB mixed with composted pine bark (B60) – for their ability to promote plant growth and minimise leaching losses in a greenhouse experiment using silverbeet (Beta vulgaris ssp. cicla). Plants were grown in 4.0-L custom-made chambers with the capacity to collect leachate and measure nitrous oxide gas flux. Both biochar mixes increased media pH, air filled porosity, bulk density and nutrient content relative to B0. The B0 had the highest cation exchange capacity and electrical conductivity. The UB-based mixes, B20 and B60, had no significant effect on silverbeet biomass after 11 weeks of growth but had higher N use efficiency and P availability than B0. These results indicate that UB can completely replace sphagnum peat from growing media and can be used at the rate of 60% on volume basis while improving N and P availability. Using a higher rate of biochar in growing media has the additional advantage of sequestering more carbon and reducing urban waste streams and landfill costs.

Plastic and Non-plastic Debris Ingestion in Three Gull Species Feeding in an Urban Landfill Environment.

Plastic debris is recognized as a widespread, common and problematic environmental pollutant. An important consequence of this pollution is the ingestion of plastic debris by wildlife. Assessing the degree to which different species ingest plastics, and the potential effects of these plastics on their health are important research needs for understanding the impacts of plastic pollution. We examined debris (plastic and other types) ingestion in three sympatric overwintering gull species (Herring gulls Larus smithsonianus, Great Black-backed Gulls Larus marinus, and Iceland Gulls Larus glaucoides) to understand how debris ingestion differs among species, age classes and sexes in gulls. We also assessed how plastic burdens were associated with body condition to investigate how gulls may be affected by debris ingestion. There were no differences among the species, age classes or sexes in the incidence of debris ingestion (plastic or otherwise), the mass or number of debris pieces ingested. We found no correlation between ingested plastics burdens and individual condition. Gulls ingested plastic debris, but also showed high levels of other debris types as well, including metal, glass and building materials, including a metal piece of debris found within an abscess in the stomach. Thus, when the health effects of debris ingestion on gulls, and other species that ingest debris, is of interest, either from a physical or chemical perspective, it may be necessary to consider all debris types and not just plastic burdens as is often currently done for seabirds.

Organic carbon storage change in China's urban landfills from 1978–2014

China has produced increasingly large quantities of waste associated with its accelerated urbanization and economic development and deposited these wastes into landfills, potentially sequestering carbon. However, the magnitude of the carbon storage in China’s urban landfills and its spatial and temporal change remain unclear. Here, we estimate the total amount of organic carbon (OC) stored in China's urban landfills between 1978 and 2014 using a first order organic matter decomposition model and data compiled from literature review and statistical yearbooks. Our results show that total OC stored in China’s urban landfills increased nearly 68-fold from the 1970s to the 2010s, and reached 225.2–264.5 Tg C (95% confidence interval, hereafter) in 2014. Construction waste was the largest OC pool (128.4–157.5 Tg C) in 2014, followed by household waste (67.7–83.8 Tg C), and sewage sludge was the least (19.7–34.1 Tg C). Carbon stored in urban landfills accounts for more than 10% of the country’s carbon stocks in urban ecosystems. The annual increase (i.e. sequestration rate) of OC in urban landfills in the 2010s (25.1 ± 4.3 Tg C yr−1, mean ± 2SD, hereafter) is equivalent to 1% of China's carbon emissions from fossil fuel combustion and cement production during the same period, but represents about 9% of the total terrestrial carbon sequestration in the country. Our study clearly indicates that OC dynamics in landfills should not be neglected in regional to national carbon cycle studies as landfills not only account for a substantial part of the carbon stored in urban ecosystems but also have a respectable contribution to national carbon sequestration.

Improvement of public administration in the sphere of solid household waste management

Problem setting. One of the most actual environmental problems in Ukraine is the accumulation and utilization of the solid household waste. Due to the considerable volumes of garbage accumulation, Ukraine is considered to be the one of the most technically inflicted countries in the world. In its experience of solid domestic waste treatment, our state is for a few decades behind the developed countries of Europe. There are tens of thousands of spontaneous dumps in Ukraine and more than 6 500 official landfills.Recent research and publications analysis. The analysis of researches on the assessment of the status of waste disposal sites in Ukraine has shown the lack of scientific works on the integrated assessment and forecast of solid waste landfills’ state and the minimization of their impact on the environment. The imperfection of modern measures to minimize the impact of dumps on the environment and the lack of an effective monitoring system necessitate the development of a set of measures to ensure the ecological safety of landfills.Aim of the article. To study the problem of solid waste accumulation and utilization in Ukraine and to identify ways of public governance’s improvement in the sphere of dealing with them.Main material. Hundreds of thousands of tons of solid household waste are being collected annually in urban landfills. Location, arrangement and operating conditions of most sewage dumps do not meet regulatory requirements, this increases the ecological danger of these objects. There are about 2000 objects in Ukraine, which are organized without projects and engineering and hydrogeological exploration. The consequence of this is the pollution of groundwater by filtrate and the migration of pollutants along with ground and underground flows.Due to widespread problems with solid household waste throughout Ukraine, the entire power vertical faces this question. At the local level, attempts to start a business in the sphere of waste sorting and recycling have taken place for several years. There are a lot of reports on the building of waste sorting and waste recycling enterprises in different regions of Ukraine.The garbage market, where it would be possible to sell secondary raw materials, has not yet been developed in Ukraine. According to experts, for example, waste produced only by the capital itself, can be estimated at 3 billion UAH in a year. Thus, tens of billions of hryvnias can be got for the country’s secondary raw materials. It has been estimated, that 100 waste processing plants are needed in order to clean the country from garbage.Taking into account the general difficult economic situation in the country, experts see the solution of this issue in attraction of foreign investments into the construction of such enterprises. For Ukraine there is a need for a state waste management strategy.Positive trends in the sphere of state regulation of the waste management system can be seen in recent years, but Ukraine has not created the appropriate legal and regulatory framework yet that would gradually reach the requirements of the European legislation. Conclusions of the research. The enshrined regulations of national rules on disposal and solid waste management are currently not implemented fully. This calls for the improvement of enforcement practice on this issue, as well as the introduction of amendments and additions to existing legal acts. It is necessary to develop an effective state program that would include a complex of state measures for the creation of specialized enterprises for sorting and processing of solid waste in Ukraine, to conduct a series of educational actions among citizens. Ukrainian legislation on the effective solution of the problem of solid household waste management should be based on national characteristics and positive experience of relevant European legislation in this sphere. And the attraction of foreign investments in the waste recycling industry will definitely contribute to the improvement of the ecological situation in Ukraine.

Stability of partial nitritation in a sequencing batch reactor fed with high ammonium strength old urban landfill leachate

The aim of this study is to investigate the stability of partial nitritation in a lab-scale sequencing batch reactor (PN-SBR) fed with high ammonium strength old municipal landfill leachate without pH adjustment, bicarbonate addition and low dissolved oxygen control. Long sludge retention of over 120 days was applied for the PN-SBR. The PN-SBR, which run over 250 days used the old urban landfill leachate containing 3096 mg NH₄⁺-N l⁻1, 12960 mg HCO₃ l⁻1, and influent HCO₃⁻:NH₄⁺ molar ratio of 1.06. After 75 days of operation, the partial nitritation achieved stability when the effluent nitrite to ammonium molar ratio obtained in the range of 1.0–1.32, which were suitable for feeding to an anammox reactor. The effluent NO₃⁻-N concentration was always below 20 mg N l⁻1. The maximum FA concentration reached 506 mg NH3-N l−1 at hour 26th during the cycle of 73 h. Even though old land fill leachate mainly contained refractory COD, COD removal efficiency achieved about 11%. The OUR tests show that the maximum growth rate μmax, Ko, Ks and yield coefficient YX/N of AOB were 0.12 day−1, 1.35 mg O2 l−1, 53 mg NH4+-N l−1 and 0.26 mgVSS mg−1 NH4+-N, respectively.

SPACE MONITORING OF ANTHROPOGENIC IMPACTS ON SOILS AND THE WATER ENVIRONMENT ASSOCIATED WITH SOLID DOMESTIC WASTE: SCIENTIFIC AND EDUCATIONAL ASPECTS (SPACE ENVIRONMENTAL WATCH)

A new technology of monitoring and control of solid waste, based on the reception and processing of the Earth remote sensing data with different spatial resolution and spectral resolution is proposed. The technology is based on the processing of multispectral and hyperspectral images from space in special software products, the identification and analysis of solid waste from small (suburban, road clutter) to large (industrial and urban landfills), depending on the spatial and spectral resolution of the space image. At present, software complexes for processing (deciphering) of space images of solid domestic waste and their adjacent territories have been developed. With the help of these software complexes, it became possible to identify unauthorized landfills, to determine the correctness of operation of existing landfills in accordance with existing regulatory documents, to determine the sequence of liquidation of various landfills, depending on the degree of their negative impact on the environment and human health. The introduction of the proposed technology can provide substantial assistance to various ministries, departments and the public in detecting at an early stage the places of clutter, the so-called pre-landfills, which, if not to take preventive measures, can become real garbage dumps with all the ensuing environmental problems. It is important that schools and universities, for which this work will be attractive both in terms of planning and implementation of research activities, education of young people with an active life position in terms of ecology and environmental protection, be included in the implementation of the "Space Ecological Watch" project. It should be borne in mind that SHW landfills are basically "the reactors" in which various physical-chemical reactions (combustion, oxidation, etc.) are rapidly occurring; besides SWLs are of considerable interest for educational and research processes both in secondary and higher schools. Moreover, many parameters of these physical-chemical reactions in the time-mode, close to the real one, can be controlled by methods of remote sensing of the Earth from space. We propose to organize the International Competition "Space Environmental Watch" with the participation of students and schoolchildren from different countries of the world. This Competition will be based on the technology described above, will have the following nominations: - identification of unauthorized landfills; - landfills Information validity check; - assessment of the impact of solid waste landfills on the environment. According to the results of the competition, a digital map with identified unauthorized garbage dumps and an assessment of their impact on the environment can be made on the Internet.

ASPECTS REGARDING THE KINSHASA URBAN LANDFILLS ASSESSMENT AND PROPOSALS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

&lt;p&gt;Landfill management is one of the major issues in the application of sustainable development principles and ecological maintenance of the cities. Promoting their appreciation, and even more preventing for their minimization, are at the heart of many debates within the scientific community, local communities, companies and civil society. The city of Kinshasa is demographically growing much too fast, its capacity to manage the waste produced by 10000000 inhabitants is more than overwhelmed. The question is “WHAT CAN BE DONE?” Today it is acknowledged that these quantities of waste can be fruitfully put to use rather than looking at it simply like at a bothersome, congesting and polluting phenomenon. We have now to consider this above all a “secondary” raw materials resource. The problem is not the amount of waste, but the inability of governments and waste disposal companies to get rid of it. The city of Kinshasa seems today to have a certain disconnection from its environment because of the impacts of human actions these last fifty years. In addition to household refuse and pollution causing an unsanitary environment in most parts of the city, one particularly notes the consequences of uncontrolled urbanization and poor waste management, resulting in widespread insalubrity of the city. The present paper was assessed the situation regarding the urban landfills in Kinshasa by using field evaluation and population questioning.&lt;/p&gt;

Environmental Equity through Negotiation: A Case Study on Urban Landfills and the Roma Community.

The paper discusses the necessity to bring environmental equity within the Pata Rât Roma community in Northwest Romania, relying on the answers to three questions: “Does environmental equity exist in Pata Rât?”, “How can it be attained?”, and “To what extent can it be brought to the targeted people?” It was shown how a trio of factors tailors the destiny of Roma inhabitants: being a minority, their ethnicity, and the fact they are living on and off what society rejects and dumps—a landfill. The framing of the environmental equity concerns within a vision considering negotiation as the most adequate means to attain it is a novel approach. Further on, the results of the study can fuel win-win solutions in environmental equity. The information abstracted from a set of indicators, assessed through an evaluation matrix, represents a beneficial platform for future bottom-up decisions concerning landfill residents. Three action options were analyzed: on-site living opportunities—that resulted to be preferred, off-site living opportunities, and “Do nothing”. The analysis provides qualitative evidence that the evaluation of environmental equity is largely subjective, because of its complexity and specificity related to geographical, historical, cultural characteristics, and political interests.

Occurrence and treatment efficiency of pharmaceuticals in landfill leachates

Landfill leachates might contain pharmaceuticals due to the expired or unwanted drugs were disposed of at landfills. These pharmaceuticals might pose a threat to soil and groundwater. Therefore, this study investigated the distributions of pharmaceutical residues and toxicities among four typical municipal landfill leachates. Twenty six pharmaceuticals were investigated in this study and fifteen of them were found in all samples from four leachates. In addition, ampicillin and methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) were detected in urban landfills (A1 and A2) but were not in rural and suburb landfills (B and C). On the other hand, some compounds were much more abundant in suburb/rural landfill leachates than those in urban landfills including diclofenac, gemfibrozil and amphetamine. Landfill leachate treatment plants could not remove most of the pharmaceuticals effectively. Landfill leachates without proper treatments would have significant adverse health impacts on human and aquatic life.

Application de la logique floue à l’aide à la décision participative pour l’évaluation de l’impact sur l’environnement – cas de Tanger

The purpose of this paper is to implement a methodology based on stakeholders’ judgment with assistance of fuzzy multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) methods to assess the environmental impact. Fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) is used as a multi-level decision-making tool taking into consideration human evaluation; it captures the vagueness in ordinal judgments obtained from stakeholders’ filled questionnaires and translates them into priorities which are not vague. Fuzzy ELECTRE III (ElLimination Et Choix Traduisant la REalité), the elimination and choice translating reality method, is employed to opt for a solution to mitigate the assessed impacts. This work proposes an integrated decision-making approach applied in the case study of the urban waste landfill of Tangier City in north Morocco.