article · Ain Shams Engineering Journal
Landfill leachate is a liquid that drains from stockpiled waste or land, carrying offensive substances and secondary products of organic decomposition. Its most hazardous constituents fall into four major categories: soluble organic matters, inorganic components, heavy metals, and xenobiotic organic compounds. Leachate composition changes significantly across landfill operational phases. During the early acid phase, strong decomposition yields elevated concentrations of hazardous components. In the subsequent methanogenic phase, the leachate stabilises, showing reduced concentrations of heavy metals, lower biochemical to chemical oxygen demand ratios, and lower overall contaminant levels. However, ammonia levels remain high over the long term. These components pose severe risks of environmental pollution. To counter these threats, established treatment plants globally employ four main technology groups to produce high effluent quality: leachate transfer, biological treatments via aerobic and anaerobic processes, physicochemical procedures, and membrane separation technologies.
Uncontrolled landfill leachate poses severe environmental hazards due to its toxic chemical profile, including heavy metals and enduring ammonia contamination. Understanding the varying composition of leachate across different decomposition stages allows municipal authorities and environmental managers to deploy suitable management strategies. Effective treatment safeguards local ecosystems and water resources from long-term pollution originating from decomposing solid waste.
The overview highlights mature, globally operational treatment approaches, indicating that the featured technologies are already near-market or in active industrial use. Waste management operators, municipal utilities, and environmental engineering firms can utilise these methods, which encompass membrane technologies, physicochemical procedures, and biological systems. These processes provide technical pathways for treating high-strength leachate and achieving high effluent quality across varying landfill decomposition stages.
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In the landfill environment context, leachate is the liquid materials that drain from stockpiled material or land. Therefore, leachate comprises of high levels of offensive components derived from the material it has passed through. Landfill leachates are also produced as secondary products of the solid organic decomposition processes. The most hazardous products of such leachate are four major types of constituents: soluble organic matters, inorganic components, heavy metals, and xenobiotic organic compounds. Leachates of high concentrations from these components in the early acid phase are mainly due to strong decomposition. During methanogenic phase, a more stable leachate, at relatively lower concentrations, low BOD/COD ratio, and low heavy metals concentrations were recorded. On the contrary, ammonia concentration does not reduce, constituting one of the long-term pollutants within landfill leachate. These chemical constituents can cause serious environmental pollution. The behavior of landfills, its impact on the environment, and treatment methods are discussed. Nowadays, many treatment plants throughout the world are operated by expertise producing high effluent quality. Several treatment technologies are discussed presenting highly efficient system including four basic groups: (1) leachate transfer: based on recycling and combined treatment with domestic sewage, (2) Biological treatment: biodegradation: applying aerobic and anaerobic techniques and (3) chemical and physical procedures: air stripping, adsorption, chemical oxidation, chemical precipitation, coagulation / flocculation, sedimentation / flotation, and (4) membrane technologies.
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DOI: 10.1016/j.asej.2023.102293
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