Assessing sanitary landfill stabilization using winter and summer waste streams in simulated landfill cells

This study was undertaken to provide a better understanding and to further define the stabilization processes involved in a typical municipal landfill representative of the city of Calgary, Canada, area. The objectives of this study were: (1) to characterize the composition of the solid waste constituents entering the landfill site, (2) to assess the relative decomposition of various waste components in the simulated test cells, (3) to parametize selected chemical and physical changes occurring during the stabilization process and (4) to determine water absorptive capacity of the different waste constituents. The results of the long term landfill stabilization using simulated landfill cell systems filled with winter and summer waste streams, respectively, have illustrated the potential changes that may occur with time with such systems. Based on the results, it can be inferred that the seasonal variation in waste composition deposited in a landfill will likely effect the rate of decomposition and settlement, chemical and physical characteristics of the leachate, moisture sorbing capacity of the site as well as variation in seasonal contaminants. Assuming that the results from the simulated landfills used during this study can be extrapolated to larger-scale landfill operations, it seems that summer waste streams pose a higher pollution threat to the environment than winter waste streams. The several trends observed in this study and the conclusions reported herein would have wide applications in landfill management.