Development of a sustainable MSW landfill as an intrinsic part of a low-priced, integrated waste management facility

Usually, a landfill is designed to function as an independent technological unit from the inception of the facility to the post closure stage of its development. However, sustainable technologies like in-situ aeration and landfill flushing dramatically shorten the duration of aftercare period. The aftercare phase comes to an end when the actual emissions appear to be so low that the site can be abandoned with essentially no risk to environmental quality and public health. Closed sections, if rapidly stabilised, offer an opportunity for real-time land reclamation for the establishment of waste recycling and recovery activities there while the landfill is still active as well as afterwards. Environmental, logistic and other infrastructure already present at the site are very much applicable for purposes of integrated waste management, too. In this way, a landfill site is slowly transformed into an integrated waste management complex diverting more and more waste away from burial in the landfill. This process may last a decade or two. After the post-closure care period ends the operator is still actively present on-site which simplifies liability concerns. Additionally, synergistic effects can result in significant economic benefits for the owner and the operator, which can be considered as the money held in escrow for purposes of covering post-closure costs. In the case of a small pilot-scale Slovenian landfill, these costs appear to be very low because its design was focused on issues like socio-economic sustainability and rapid waste stabilization. Since waste disposal of untreated MSW is still widespread in low-income countries today, the approach could be of current interest for smaller, self dependent urban areas in developing countries.