Evaluation of certain pollutants generation inside municipal solid waste landfills

Abstract

Municipal solid waste disposal sites act as sources of secondary pollution of the environment with waste destruction products that undergo further chemical and biochemical transformations. The research deals with the issues of quantitative assessment of greenhouse gases and persistent organic pollutants formation within municipal solid waste landfills. It uses such methods as mathematical models of pollutants formation inside a municipal solid waste landfill body, namely methane and persistent organic pollutants formation. Bioorganic substance forming the major part of municipal solid waste generates methane, carbon dioxide and other compounds; presence of chlorine in various compounds included in the composition of waste causes unintentional formation of persistent organic pollutants, in particular PCDD/F. The article presents the results of measurements of methane formation (according to the National Gas Formation Model), carbon dioxide and non-methane volatile organic compounds formation (according to the LandGEM model) with relation to the conditions of the municipal solid waste landfill «Dalnytsky Kariery» that accepts waste from the Odesa industrial-and-urban agglomeration. It shows the municipal solid waste landfill as a significant source of greenhouse gases the amount of which increases rapidly under the conditions of long-term operation and constant delivery of waste. The discrepancy in the results of methane formation measurements indicates the need to adapt the LandGEM model that matches the Ukrainian conditions. It would allow determining a wide range of atmospheric polluting substances. The author's design determines the formation of persistent organic pollutants as exemplified by PCDD/F. The measurements showed that landfills act as a significant source of unintentional formation of PCDD/F, 99% of which accumulate inside a landfill itself. They also indicated that, under the conditions of a constant delivery of waste to a landfill, there is a rapid increase in the amount of PCDD/F formed, even with consideration of the half-life period. The landfill itself is considered as a main source of unintentional formation of PCDD/F within the whole Odesa agglomeration.