Efficient management of waste disposal sites can curb air pollution

14 Nov 2018

The practical way to deal with legacy dumpsites, which are a source of local air pollution and fire accidents, is to stabilise the slopes. We must start recovering the landfill gas and then either flaring or harvesting it to be used as a potential fuel. Once these dumps have been stabilised and most of the landfill gas recovered, the dumps can be opened, and their content mined into compostable, combustibles and inerts. The combustibles can be further processed into refuse-derived fuel (RDF) and used as a source of energy, either in industries or cement kilns. This can be done cell by cell on the disposal sites. The emptied cells should be lined and converted into sanitary landfills so that scientific disposal of residues of waste processing can be initiated, in compliance with the waste management rules of 2016.

Tags
Air pollution
Waste disposal