Landfill Management
The management of a Landfill not only encompasses the engineering and monitoring to ensure permit compliance but also encompasses the receipt and placement of the waste while the site is open/operational.
Day to Day Activities
In general terms, the following day to day activities take place and are further detailed in historical guidance Waste Management Paper 26B (WMP26B): Landfill Design, Construction and Operational Practice and ISWA's Guidelines [1]
- waste is received at the site and the vehicle and contents weighed
- all paperwork is checked to ensure that the received materials are acceptable for disposal at the site
- a visual check is made of the waste at the weighbridge to confirm that the material has been correctly described
- the vehicle is dispatched to the tipping area where its content are discharged
- site waste is pushed out into a working area in the operational/active landfill cell and the nature of the waste checked to confirm that it has been correctly consigned and is acceptable for disposal at the site prior to final placement and compaction
- the vehicle leaves the working area and is re-weighed at the weighbridge (empty) and an appropriate receipt given to the driver
Working Pratices
The working area utilised on each day is kept to a minimum area and waste is tipped in relatively thin layers. This practice is maintained to minimise the area open to the atmosphere and the potential attraction to avian scavengers. At the end of every day a layer of suitable inert material is spread over that day's input to minimise wind-blown litter and prevent birds and rodents from accessing the tipped waste.
Site operations and waste placement are usually carried out with various items of fixed and mobile plant, such as:
- weighbridge and associated site office
- appropriate mobile plant to push the waste out into layers and provide compaction of the waste (this usually comprises bulldozer and/or wheeled compactor as shown in the picture at the top of this page; these can be in multiple if the site has a large daily input)
- wheel wash to clean the wheels of road-going vehicles leaving the site to enter the public highway
- various ancillary equipment to maintain dust suppression, surface water control and to deal with pests and birds/scavengers
