Final disposition of municipal solid waste: Need for an integral approach

Sanitary Landfill is the principal method in final disposal of Municipal So lid Wastes (MSW) in our countries. It is necessary a global approach to dev elop this technology. The right localisation, well-defined operational cond itions and the engineering landfill design must take to account local condi tions to be successfull. Sanitary landfill can be understood as a huge bior reactor Organic wastes degrade while waterflow through them. As a consequen ce, liquid and gaseous emissions are produced (leachate and biogas respecti vely). To design the drainage systems and treatments units it must be estim ated leachate and biogas production. We present an approach for the estimat ion of these emissions based on pilot and real scale experiences, developed in local conditions. Additionally, we present different leachate treatment s based on biological reactors, including design parameters.