Waste from construction and demolition activities represents one of the highest volumes of waste in Europe. 500 million tonnes are produced throughout the whole EU every year. In some EU members like Spain, approximately 83 per cent of such waste is disposed in landfills. The remaining part is classified and processed in treatment facilities so that it can later be used as recycled aggregates i...

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs, prion diseases) are a class of fatal neurodegenerative diseases affecting a variety of mammalian species including humans. A misfolded form of the prion protein (PrP(TSE)) is the major, if not sole, component of the infectious agent RecentTSE outbreaks in domesticated and wild animal populations have created the need for safe and effective dispos...

Mercury-bearing material enters municipal landfills from a wide array of sources, including fluorescent lights, batteries, electrical switches, thermometers, and general waste; however, the fate of mercury (Hg) in landfills has not been widely studied. Using automated flux chambers and downwind atmospheric sampling, we quantified the primary pathways of Hg vapor releases to the atmosphere at si...

Landfills generate emissions over long periods, often longer than a lifetime. The longest lasting emission is leachate. In order to estimate the future requirements for leachate treatment, different kinds of leaching tests may be applied. In this paper, shaking leaching tests (SLT), landfill-simulator leaching tests and a field-cell leaching test performed with ash, municipal solid waste (MSW) ...

Currently in the US, over 97% of food waste is estimated to be buried in landfills. There is nonetheless interest in strategies to divert this waste from landfills as evidenced by a number of programs and policies at the local and state levels, including collection programs for source separated organic wastes (SSO). The objective of this study was to characterize the state-of-the-practice of fo...

Vertical liquids addition systems have been used at municipal landfills as a leachate management method and to enhance biostabilization of waste. Drawbacks of these systems include a limitation on pressurized injection and the occurrence of seepage. A novel vertical well system that employed buried wells constructed below a lift of compacted waste was operated for 153 days at a landfill in Flor...

Waste with high biomass content generated in cities in developing countries is sent to landfills or open dumps. This research aims to degrade biomass content in urban waste through cultivation, at pilot scale, of the edible mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus. First, the number of diapers used by one baby per week was measured with a survey in day care facilities. Then, cellulose content of diapers wa...