Municipal Solid Waste Landfill as a Dangerous Ungovernable Biochemical Reactor

Abstract

The paper discusses a critical dangerous situation regarding unequipped municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills which take place in virtually all developing economics, as well as in many richer countries. In this article, MSW landfills are considered as uncontrolled biochemical reactors that generate dangerous air, water and soil pollutants and negatively affect the health of the population for tens and even hundreds of kilometers around. To this purpose, we have comprehensively examined four operating solid waste dumps in a large industrial city. The so-called "landfill gas" is a 99% greenhouse gas (its composition is a mixture of CO2 and CH4), that is, MSW landfills also make a considerable contribution to global warming. In additional, self-ignition and smoldering of municipal waste inside the MSW landfills giving very dangerous pollution of the environment by their "flue gases" have been studied. Experimentally studied bacterial activity in the body of the MSW landfill which largely determines the "behavior" of the MSW landfill. Also, a technology has been developed to suppress smoldering and burning inside MSW landfills.