Landfill In Residential Areas; Impacts And Management

Landfill In Residential Areas; Impacts And Management
Abstract
A modern landfill is an engineered method for depositing waste in specially constructed and protected cells on the land surface or in excavations into the land surface. Despite the fact that an increasing amount of waste is reused, recycled or energetically valorized, landfills still play an important role in waste management strategies. The degradation of wastes in the landfill results in the production of leachate and gases. These emissions are potential threats to human health and to the quality of the environment. Leachate can migrate to groundwater or even to surface water through the flaws in the liners and this poses a serious problem as aquifers require extensive time for rehabilitation. Construction and management of landfills have ecological effects that may lead to landscape changes, loss of habitats and displacement of fauna. Socio-economic impacts of landfills include risks for public health derived from surface or groundwater contamination by leachate, the diffusion of litter into the wider environment and inadequate on-site recycling activities. Nuisances such as flies, odors, smoke and noise are frequently cited among the reasons why people do not want to reside close to landfills. Various researches conclude that landfills likely have an adverse negative impact upon housing values depending upon the actual distance from the landfill. This study provides an insight into landfill impacts and management in Lagos state, Nigeria. Results show that landfills within Lagos metropolis are uncontrolled and do not conform to international standards of similar operations elsewhere in the world. This non-compliance result into a proliferation of insects and rodents which allows blowing of litter that causes bad odour and general environmental degradation. These negative impacts can only be minimized by pragmatic design and proper management of landfills within urban and peri-urban areas.
Table Of Content
Preliminary Page(s)
- Title Page
- Declaration
- Approval
- Dedication
- Acknowledgement
- Abstract
- Table of Content
Chapter One
1.0 Introduction
- 1.1 Background To The Study
- 1.2 Statement Of Problem
- 1.3 Purpose Of The Study
- 1.4 Research Questions
- 1.5 Significance Of The Study
Chapter Two
2.0 Literature Review
- 2.1 Conceptual Review
- 2.2 Landfills And Landfill Emissions
- 2.2.1 Landfill Gas
- 2.2.2 Leachate
- 2.3 Modeling Approaches To Assess The Landfill Emission And Their Impacts
- 2.4 The Burden Of Solid Waste In Lagos Metropolis
- 2.5 Landfill Development, Operations And Management In Lagos Metropolis
- 2.5.1 Landfill Development In Lagos State
- 2.5.2 Landfill Operations
- 2.5.3 State Government Financial Input On Landfill Sites
- 2.5.4 Locational Characteristics Of The Landfills
- 2.5.5 Operation And Management Of The Landfill Sites
Chapter Three
3.0 Research Methodology
- 3.1 Research Design
- 3.2 Data And Sources
- 3.3 Data Analysis
Chapter Four
4.0 Results And Discussion
- 4.1 Environmental Impact Of Landfills
- 4.2 The Health And Social Impacts Of Landfills
- 4.3 Management Of Landfill
Chapter Five
5.0 Conclusion And Recommendation
- 5.1 Conclusion
- 5.2 Recommendation
- References
Chapter One
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Background To The Study
Waste management has been identified as one of the most challenging environmental problems facing cities in most developing countries (Bartone et al., 1990). Disposal of waste is a challenge for many communities in both the developed and developing countries because of the risks to human health and the general environment (Olorunfemi, 2011, 2009). Many of the current problems associated with waste management have come from increased waste generation resulting from increasing urban population. There is need for these wastes to be properly and safely disposed to minimize environment damage. In Nigeria, the situation has worsened mainly because of the spate of industrial developments, coupled with rapid human population growth in the most urban areas. Hence, there is need for effective waste management strategies relevant for this part of the world. Uncontrolled widespread dumping of wastes on urban land has serious implications for land and the environment in the vicinity of such sites. Associated with management of waste is the siting of waste disposal facilities which is a central issue in waste management. Among these facilities are landfills and waste and sewage treatment plants and incinerators, among others. However, landfill has been recommended as the best facility for handling waste in developing countries (Ziess and Atwater, 1987). Allaby (1988) defined Landfill as the disposal of refuse by tipping it on land. He further observed that a landfill qualifies as controlled when refuse is deposited in a prepared site over which earth can be heaped at the end of each day.
For a long time, there has been a public view that landfills are not favorable usage of land (Smith and Desvouges, 1986; Carter, 1989). As a noxious facility, it is generally perceived as risky because of the inherent negative externalities associated with it. Landfills are commonly considered as a form of nuisance and are classified under environmental features which are risky and can reduce land and house values (Nelson et al., 1992, Olorunfemi, 2004). For example, Zeiss and Atwater (1987) disaggregated these impacts as physical (environmental change); social (stigma to the image of the host community); political (unfairness to the host community); and economic (property value depreciation). In developed countries, these impacts, being borne by the host community on behalf of the larger society, are sometimes calculated and adequately compensated for to ease decision-making. However, this is not the case in developing countries where not much is known about the nature of the impact of landfills on society and the environment and where there is little or no public consultation on landfill siting processes.
Providing adequate disposal facilities is a challenge faced by waste managers throughout the world. Often, lack of such facilities is just one of a number of related deficiencies to be overcome in solid waste management (Rushbrook and Pugh, 1999). Globalization, rapid urbanization and economic growth in the developing world tends to deteriorate this situation further. Hence, a legitimate question arises: How can we deal with solid wastes in an efficient, effective and sustainable manner? Current approaches to solid waste management are by and large, unsustainable (Van de Klundert and Anschutz, 2000).
Faced with the rapidly increasing problems of waste management in Nigerian cities, there is need to embark on practical programmes to deal with the situation. Use of landfills is one of the oldest practices used by man, with, the aim of achieving sustainability in overall waste management. Within the context of integrated sustainable waste management, proper landfill design, operations and management are quite important. It is in light of this that this paper provides a review of landfill practices in Lagos metropolis.
1.2 Statement Of Problem
Despite the fact that the EU waste hierarchy, as set by the Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC) establishes the preference of reuse, recycling and recovery of waste above landfilling, a significant amount of waste is still landfilled. It is a well-known fact that landfilling has environmental effects, mainly due to the long-term methane emission and leachate production. Landfill gas consists mainly of methane and carbon dioxide and it can also contain a large number of other gases at low concentrations some of which are toxic[1]. The substances that are present in landfill gas are known to contribute to several environmental problems such as global warming, acidification, depletion of the quality of ecosystem as well as social issues like human health [2-7]. Leachate production is also a major concern as leachate can migrate to surface and groundwater. This is more serious than river pollution because aquifers require extensive time for rehabilitation [1]. Landfill leachate may present significant concentrations of trace metals, nutrients such as nitrate and phosphate, ammonia and chlorides. Apart from the environmental burdens, occupation and requirement of the enormous space for landfills generates the issue of land scarcity for the development of human society and eco systems. Moreover, landfills decrease the market value of the surrounding area [4, 5]. Different modeling approaches to quantify landfill emissions have been developed. Most of the models concentrate on landfill gas and leachate and a few of them address nuisances like odor, dust, noise and etc. In addition to the generation models, a few studies have been performed to model the impacts of landfills. Landfill modeling in life cycle analysis (LCA) is the most common approach.
The purpose of our research is to review the existing literature on environmental and socio-economic impacts of landfills on residential areas as well as ways to effectively manage these impacts. An attention has been given to the available modeling approaches to assess the landfill emissions and their impacts. Furthermore, this paper highlights evolving landfill concepts such as landfill bio reactors and enhanced landfill mining as to minimize the risk and environmental burdens of landfills and to re-introduce the disposed resources to the material cycle.
1.3 Purpose Of The Study
The main aim of this study is to assess the impact and management of landfill in residential areas. The specific objectives are outlined below;
- To determine the environmental impact of landfills on residential areas in Lagos state
- To determine the health and social impacts of landfills on residential areas in Lagos state
- To identify methods of managing landfill in residential areas
1.4 Research Questions
The following questions were formulated to guide the study;
- What is the environmental impact of landfills on residential areas in Lagos state?
- What is the health and social impacts of landfills on residential areas in Lagos state?
- What are the possible methods of managing landfill in residential areas?
1.5 Significance Of The Study
This study will be of great significance to the policy makers, healthcare professionals and the government/major health stakeholders. Improper handling of solid waste in the society may increase the airborne pathogenic bacteria, which could adversely affect the residential environment and community at large. Improper landfill management has serious impact on human environment. Apart from risk of water, air and soil pollution, it has considerable impact on human health due to aesthetic effects.
The findings of this study will inform the policy makerson safe disposal and subsequent destruction of waste as a key step to the reduction of illnesses or injuries through contact with this potentially hazardous material, and in the prevention of environmental contamination. Also, it is hoped that this study will provide a practicable landfill management approach that will be beneficial to the government and other authorities and will reduce the negative impacts on the environment and communities within the neighborhood of the waste dump sites of the selected areas. Lastly, the study will serve as an empirical literature providing baseline data for researchers to develop further research in future studies.
Chapter Five
5.0 Conclusion And Recommendation
5.1 Conclusion
Landfills mainly emit gas and contaminated water as well as wind-blown litter and dust. Landfills are potential threat to the quality of the environment, although the full extent of this threat has not always been scientifically validated. The main potential impacts are due to landfill gas and leachate. Both are highly complex mixtures and vary from site to site and with waste composition and age of the landfill. It is clear that enough attention has been given to modeling of landfill emission in order to quantify the landfill gas and leachate production. But on the other hand, studies that model the impacts of landfill emission are scarce. A few LCA studies have been performed to compare landfilling with other waste management technologies but by our knowledge an integrated assessment of the impacts of landfills has not been addressed yet. Nevertheless, available literature highlights that the landfills create significant impacts on global warming, eco system, ground and surface water, human health, land value and land availability. In order to minimize the potential risk and environmental burden of landfills and on the other hand to re-introduce the buried resources to the material cycle the landfill concepts should be made operational in the future. Further development of the concepts of landfill bioreactors and enhanced landfill mining can be seen as a promising approach to reduce the environmental impact and the negative socio-economic impacts.
This study has shown that landfills within Lagos metropolis are uncontrolled and do not conform to international standards of operations. This non- compliance results into proliferation of insects and rodents, blowing of litter and causes odour and general environmental degradation. This is consistent with earlier findings by Arimah and Adinnu (1995). This revelation has practical implications for the siting of landfills in Nigerian urban areas.
It is tempting to suggest that in order to minimize negative externalities, landfills should be located as far away as possible from human settlements. However, this may not suffice, given the scarcity of urban land, especially in Lagos. Overtime, new settlements may spring up around the landfills. These negative impacts can be minimized through pragmatic design and proper management of landfills within urban areas. Such design and management should enhance the sanitary and aesthetic conditions of the landfills; it can minimize the generation of green house gases such as methane; and it can also reduce production of leachates that would contaminate underground water sources. All these will go a long way in ensuring that landfills in Nigerian urban areas are environmentally acceptable.
5.2 Recommendation
In Nigeria, some of the issues that could be addressed as far as waste management practices are concerned include following:
- There is the need for municipal governments in Nigeria to recognize solid waste management as a major problem and allocate adequate financial and other resources to efficiently and effectively solve the problem. If the available internal municipal resources are inadequate, such municipal authorities can study the cost and benefits of contracting of waste collection and disposal operations to private operators.
- It is important to produce Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) for all new large-scale landfill sites in the country. In the EIS, consideration should be given not only to the material aspects of development and environment, but also to those groups in society that are likely to be affected by the development proposals.
- Existing and all future landfill sites should be designed and operated under appropriate physical planning and engineering standards. Such standards relate to solid waste transportation, accessibility, tipping, quantity and depth of sand (15 cm) to be spread within 24 h of tipping, and provision of fencing around the sites.


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