Landfill leachate treatment - where lies the solution

Abstract

As society and technology has developed, an increasing amount of municipal solid waste (MSW) along with industrial and agricultural waste has been generated and the management of waste became a very organized, specialized and complex activity. The huge amounts of waste produced every day have several detrimental impacts of great concern, where the depletion of natural resources is one of the most important. Although several countries have been introducing more stringent laws to reduce the amount of waste to be landfilled, in an attempt to maximize recycling and materials recovery, landfilling is still the most generalized practice for MSW treatment. Thus, the treatment of the high polluted waters leaching from landfills constitutes an important burden in landfill management. The selection and design of the management and treatment of a landfill leachate has to take into consideration factors such as leachate characteristics, effluent discharge alternatives, technological options, final discharge requirements and economical aspects.