This lesson introduces landfills, explains how modern sites differ from earlier disposal practices, and describes the main steps involved in daily operation.
A landfill is a site where waste materials, including municipal solid waste, are disposed of. It is one of the oldest and most common forms of waste disposal. Historically, people left waste in piles or placed it in pits, sometimes called middens in archaeology. Systematic burial using daily, intermediate, and final covers began in the 1940s.
All flashcards
What is a landfill?
A site where waste materials, including municipal solid waste, are disposed of. Modern landfills are engineered and managed facilities.
What does a weighbridge do?
It weighs waste collection vehicles, commonly on arrival and sometimes again after unloading, helping operators record the amount of waste delivered.
What is the working face?
The active part of a landfill where incoming waste is tipped, spread, and compacted.
What is a daily cell?
The area occupied by the compacted waste placed during a day together with its cover material.
Name two factors that influence compacted waste density.
Waste compressibility, waste-layer thickness, and the number of compactor passes all affect waste density; any two are examples.
Quiz questions
How can a bioreactor landfill stimulate the breakdown of waste?Answer: By aerating waste or recirculating leachate through it.
What happens during the methane-fermentation phase of landfill decomposition?Answer: Microbes convert intermediate acids into methane and carbon dioxide.
What is the main purpose of a cap installed when a landfill closes?Answer: To limit precipitation entering the waste and forming new leachate.
About what share of landfill gas is methane on average?Answer: About half of the gas.
What is a central goal of landfill aftercare?Answer: To manage gas and leachate and limit environmental impacts over time.
Based on the Wikipedia article Landfill, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.