Landfill mining: characterization of municipal solid waste landing towards its reusable potential in the geotechnical, energy and environmental areas

Abstract

In many countries, municipal solid waste (MSW) management has become a self-sufficient process, which was possible due to the perception that this material has an aggregate financial value and that its final disposal can cause serious environmental problems. Landfill mining refers to the excavation and treatment of waste from an active or inactive landfill with a number of purposes, such as the reuse of recovered materials. This research intends to characterize municipal solid waste (MSW) with different ages, coming from the city of Campinas-SP, seeking its reuse potential in the Geotechnical, Energy and Environmental areas. MSW samples will be prepared to allow determination of gravimetric composition, moisture content, series of solids and other constituents such as protein, carbohydrate, lipid, total organic carbon, elemental composition (C, H and N) and calorific value. In addition, the fine material of the soil weighted RSU (D <19mm) samples, which are difficult to visualize, will be subjected to geotechnical and geoenvironmental testing with a focus on their reuse as a covering material for landfills. It is hoped, therefore, to obtain a more detailed and complete characterization of MSW produced in the city of Campinas, which can subsidize studies aiming at new reuse of these materials, which may result in additional benefits such as mitigation of environmental impacts, recovery of areas and increase of working life of landfills. (AU)