Technical Committee on Geotechnics of Landfill Engineering

German Geotechnical Society (DGGT)

Technical Committee Sanitary Landfills

German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste (DWA)
Association of Municipal Waste Management and City Cleaning (VKS in the VKU)

Working Group Landfill Technology

Toolkit Landfill Technology

Chapter 1.3

Health and Environmental Risks of Dumps and Landfills

Hans-Gnter Ramke, Hxter, Germany

Reviewed by DGGT/DWA-VKS-Working Group

Landfill Technology and published in the internet
http://www.landfill-technology.info.

September 2007

Chapter 1.3

Table of Contents

Table of Contents
Page
1

Introduction

Risks of Uncontrolled Dumping for Human Health

Complex of Problems with Waste Pickers on Landfills

Particular Emissions during Landfill Operation

Effects on Surface Water and Groundwater

Effects of Landfill Gas

Effects on Fauna and Flora

Emissions of Closed Landfills

11

Environmental Impact Assessment

12

10

Bibliography

13

Chapter 1.3

Introduction

The objective of this chapter is to describe the most important health and environmental risks which might be caused by disposal sites in order to illustrate the
necessity of adequate design, construction and operation of landfills. In each of the
following sections particular problems for human health and the different
environmental media, their causes, and mitigation measures are briefly explained.
Figure 1.1 shows the polluting emissions and other negative effects which must be
expected at uncontrolled dumps and poorly designed and/or operated landfills:
- leachate
- landfill gas
- surface runoff
-

noise
bad odour and smoke
wind-blown litter and dust
birds, vermin and insects.

Many negative effects such as noise, odour and smoke, wind-blown litter and dust or
accumulations of birds, vermin and insects can be minimised by appropriate landfill
operation, especially the runoff of contaminated surface water can be prevented
totally.
The most important emissions of dumps and landfills are leachate and landfill gas,
and even a closed (and restored) landfill will cause leachate and landfill gas for a
period of time.
Leachate and landfill gas generation cannot be avoided by landfilling of untreated
waste, but in opposite to an uncontrolled dump the environment can be protected
against pollution by liner systems, collection and treatment of emissions at a well
designed, constructed and operated landfill.
Figure 1.1:
Schematic diagram
of emissions of
dumps and landfills

Environmental Risks

Risks of Uncontrolled Dumping for Human Health

Figure 2.1 describes the risks for human beings caused by uncontrolled dumping of
waste. Direct or indirect pathways for contaminants or negative effects from
uncontrolled disposal sites to human beings especially for those living on or next to
the dumpsite are
-

the terrestrial food chain

the aquatic food chain
the chain of drinking water supply
airborne emissions
transfer of pathogens by biological vectors.

Many people living on or near dumps died during last years because of landslides of
waste bodies. These slides can destroy settlements some hundred metres
downwards the dumpsite.
A further serious problem is the co-disposal of municipal, hospital and industrial
waste, which is often practised in many countries. Particular hazards can be caused
e.g. by the following wastes:
-

hospital wastes with pathogenic and infectious materials

commercial wastes like used oil, batteries, and paints
inorganic industrial wastes like acids, heavy metals, and asbestos
organic industrial wastes like solvents, pesticides, pharmaceuticals.

Protection of human health means effective environmental protection, and adequate

waste disposal is one of its essential components.

Figure 2.1: Consequences of uncontrolled dumping of waste (OELTZSCHNER, 1996)

Chapter 1.3

Complex of Problems with Waste Pickers on Landfills

One of the most serious problems in many countries all over the world is the practice,
that waste pickers and their families are living on dumpsites, picking recyclables out
of the waste without any protective equipment, and do not have any municipal
infrastructure (see Photo 3.1).
Photo 3.1:
Waste pickers on a landfill in
Latin America

Photo: P. Schnittger, Hamburg, Germany

The health hazards for waste pickers and their families are obvious:
-

injuries or death caused by accidents with haulage trucks and compactors

injuries caused by sharp waste components
infections by direct ingestion of food waste
infections caused by insects and rats
poisoning by polluted water and gas.

Therefore waste picking should be prohibited, but it has to be considered, that

recycling is often the only source of income of the poor.
The whole problem can only be solved by a complex of measures like:
- permitting of waste picking
- improving of working conditions
- improving of living conditions on site.
Every local situation requires specific solutions and demands a close co-operation of
all the stakeholders in waste management.
The opening of a new landfill is a good opportunity to establish new rules and to offer
better working conditions for the waste pickers.

Environmental Risks

Particular Emissions during Landfill Operation

Five types of emissions are typical for dumps and landfills during operation, because
they are partly caused by tipping and placement of waste:
- noise
- bad odour and smoke
- wind-blown litter and dust.
All of these emissions can be minimised by suitable landfill operation, while nonorganised dumping creates and increases the problems.
Noise is generated by the haulage trucks and the mobile equipment of the landfill like
compactors and bulldozers. The best measure to protect the neighbourhood against
noise is proper siting of a landfill. This includes access roads out of settlements as far
as possible. Further measures of noise protection or reduction are bordering dams
around the tipping area and encased engine compartments.
The typical bad odour of landfills is a consequence of unavoidable biological
degradation processes. The in-situ biodegradation can only be reduced by pretreatment, but apart from these measures, which belong to a framework of modern
waste management, some simple measures can diminish bad odour emissions:
- no open dumping of sludges and other fast degradable wastes like wastes
from slaughter houses
- reduction of open tipping areas down to the necessary minimum space for
tipping and compaction
- collection and treatment of landfill gas parallel to the development of the
landfill body.
Further typical problems are fires and the resulting smoke on uncontrolled dumps
and sometimes on landfills (see Photo 4.1). Reasons for beginning of fires are
different:
- auto-ignition of non-compacted waste with high degrees of organics and
combustible materials
- waste-induced ignitions caused e.g. by hot ashes or chemically reacting
materials (like carbide)
- setting of fire to the wastes by the workers in order to minimise waste volume
or to destroy commercial waste like oil filters
- arson just for fun caused by people not belonging to the landfill.
Auto-ignition of waste and waste induced ignitions often cause hidden fires which
smoulder inside the waste body. Also burning waste heaps at the top or the edges of
a dumping area can turn into a smouldering fire inside the waste body.

Chapter 1.3

5
Photo 4.1:
Burning dump in the
Middle East

Photo: H.-G. Ramke, Braunschweig, Germany

These fires are difficult to extinguish and often they gleam for many months. Under
unfavourable conditions a fire can get out of control and ignite the whole dumpsite.
Next to the uncontrolled release of toxic gases burning waste generates a lot of
smoke. Smoke of burning waste is sometimes a dominant factor of the atmospheric
load with particulate matters in cities of developing countries.
Self-ignition of waste can be reduced by waste compaction, which is decreasing the
air supply inside the waste body. This also prevents the turn of open fires into
smouldering fires. Intentional waste fires can be stopped by good landfill practice and
site control.
Wind-blown litter consists of paper and plastic sheets. These sheets can affect the
neighbourhood of a landfill in a range up to some hundred metres. The sheets are
blown both during unloading of haulage trucks and from the surface of the tipping
area. Dust becomes a problem when municipal waste contains a lot of ashes and if
waste is covered with soil which desiccates in dry periods.
The problem of wind-blown litter and dust during unloading can be reduced by
preparation of tipping areas sheltered from the wind (not at the top of the landfill,
construction of higher bordering dams). Compaction of waste significantly reduces
blowing of paper and plastic sheets, and in addition paper catching fences or
hedgerows are useful. Sprinkling of earth covers and sandy roads prevents dust
emissions.

Environmental Risks

Effects on Surface Water and Groundwater

The effects of polluted surface run-off and leachate on surface water and
groundwater are the most serious pollution in the mid- and long-term perspective
brought about by dumps and landfills.
Dumping of waste in the neighbourhood of surface waters like creeks, rivers, and
lakes without any protective measures must result in water pollution caused by
surface run-off from the dumping area. The type of pollution depends on the types of
waste disposed of. The contaminants can range from oil, toxic inorganic and organic
chemicals, and pathogenic germs to inorganic salts and organic constituents washed
out of the wastes disposed of. Toxic substances, salts and organic pollutants can
interfere with the aquatic fauna seriously and spoil the surface water for human
purposes.
Volume or height of surface run-off from disposal areas is determined by:
- intensity of rainfalls
- geometry of the site
- properties of soils and wastes.
Surface run-off can become a problem especially in countries with very high annual
rainfalls or in arid countries with very intensive rainfalls in a few weeks of the year.
Protective measures against pollution by surface run-off from waste disposal areas
are simply to realise:
- clear definition of disposal areas
- bottom and bordering dams around the disposal areas
- ditches around the disposal areas for surface run-off collection.
These measures represent good landfill practice and will reliably prevent pollution by
surface run-off.
Leachate is generated when precipitation seeps into a landfill body. The water
percolates the waste and solutes inorganic and organic waste compounds. Leachate
from landfills for municipal waste is often 10 100 times higher loaded with organic
compounds than municipal sewage. In addition to the organic constituents, which are
often easily degradable, leachate contains ammonia in high concentrations, which is
toxic for fishes. Furthermore many other contaminants are found in leachate from
dumpsites and landfills, due to the types of waste disposed of.
Photo 5.1 shows an unsealed leachate pond at the foot of a dumpsite in the Middle
East. The pond with a surface of some hectares does not disappear despite high
evaporation rates and the missing bottom liner. The neighbourhood suffers from the
bad odour emitted from this pond.

Chapter 1.3

7
Photo 5.1:
Uncontrolled leachate pond at
the foot of a dumpsite in the
Middle East

Photo: H.-G. Ramke, Braunschweig, Germany

Photo 5.2:
Pollution of surface- and
groundwater by leachate from
an uncontrolled dump in
Latin America

Photo: P. Schnittger, Hamburg, Germany

Photo 5.2 demonstrates surface- and groundwater pollution directly at the foot of an
uncontrolled dump.
The height of leachate generation is determined by climatic conditions and waste
characteristics. In Central Europe climatic conditions determine the height of
leachate, in developing countries with arid climates very often leachate is dominantly
generated by consolidation processes (squeezing out of water from wet waste).
Groundwater pollution prevention is the main task of design and construction of
landfills, in opposite to non-sealed dumps. Landfills have to have a bottom liner, a
leachate collection system, and a leachate management.

Environmental Risks

Effects of Landfill Gas

Anaerobic degradation of organic materials in landfills produces biogas, called landfill

gas. Landfill gas mainly consists of methane and carbon dioxide, and in addition a lot
of trace gases are included.
Landfill gas generation rates depend on the amount of waste disposed of, the content
of organics, and abiotic conditions like moisture and temperature. Approximately
200 l/kg municipal waste can be produced within a period of 20 years. Fresh waste
generates more landfill gas than older materials.
Methane is inflammable and explosive in air in a range of concentration of 5 % (lower
explosion limit) to 15 % (upper explosion limit). Carbon dioxide affects the respiratory
centre of human beings, and even if oxygen concentration is sufficient, more than
5 % of carbon dioxide in air lead to headache and vertigo, more than 8 % are lethal.
Many trace gases are extremely odour intensive (like mercaptans), others are toxic
(like hydrogen sulphur) or carcinogenic (e.g. chlorinated hydrocarbons).
On site the main risk caused by landfill gas is the risk of explosions when landfill gas
and air are in an explosive mixture. Furthermore fires, especially at the outlet of drain
pipes or gas wells and at cracks in cover layers, can flare back into the waste and set
the landfill body into fire.
In the surrounding areas problems are caused by landfill gas, if the gas migrates in
soil layers of high conductivity or in trenches backfilled with coarse material. The
horizontal emission in the subsoil can accumulate landfill gas below neighboured
residential and commercial buildings, especially in cellars. When methane
concentration exceeds the lower explosion limit in those rooms one spark e.g. by
switching on lights will let the buildings explode.
Finally a lingering poisoning of landfill workers and residents in the neighbourhood
cannot be excluded if landfill gas contains a lot of toxic compounds, especially on
landfills with high amounts of industrial waste in conjunction with biodegradable
putrescibles.
Apart from damages from landfill gas the influence of methane on the greenhouse
effect should be considered. The effect of methane on the global warming is fifty
times higher than the effect of carbon dioxide.
After landfill restoration non-collected landfill gas migrates through the restoration
layer and displaces soil air. This damages the plants due to the missing oxygen in the
root zone.
Most of the effects described above can be coped by engineering methods like
installation of liners after closure of landfills, gas collection, and gas treatment as
early as possible after beginning waste dumping.

Chapter 1.3

Effects on Fauna and Flora

Dumps and landfills influence both the fauna and flora on the site and in its
neighbourhood.
Especially the rapid development of vermin and birds on landfills is a serious
problem, because insects, rats and birds are vectors of diseases.
Three examples shall demonstrate the effects on the fauna on the site.
Birds on Landfills all over the World
Landfills are very attractive for many types of birds all over the world. Especially
omnivores like seagulls and scavengers like some types of crows find a lot of food in
newly tipped wastes (see Photo 7.1).
Typical are colonies of one or two species, which dominate the landfill in huge and
dense flocks. The unloading haulage trucks are surrounded by excited birds, and the
whole surface of non compacted or non covered waste is overcast with them.
In addition to omnivores in Germany rare raptors could be found on landfills. Again
the broad offer of food ensures the surviving of this endangered species.
Overpopulation of birds on landfills can be controlled by adequate landfill operation
(small tipping areas, compaction, and earth cover) and by hunting.

Rats and Snakes on a Controlled Dump in the Middle East

The particular dumpsite was placed in a semi-desert area; the distance to residential
zones was about 30 km. The waste, which typically contained a lot of organics, was
not compacted, just spread with a bulldozer.
The high content of food waste attracted small mammals, especially rats, living in the
semi-desert. Optimal living conditions resulted in a rapid development of rats
quantity, and landfill workers and waste pickers, living on the landfill, were affected by
these aggressive rodents.
As a consequence of this abnormal rat population in the semi-desert snakes
discovered the dumpsite as habitat, and once again due to the optimal living
conditions a normally small population increased rapidly.
This huge risk for health and life of the landfill workers and waste pickers living on the
site required urgent measures. A compactor was bought, and after compacting the
waste both the rat population and the snake population totally broke down.

10

Environmental Risks
Photo 7.1:
Flock of birds on a dump in
Latin America

Photo: P. Schnittger, Hamburg, Germany

Cockroaches on a Landfill in Germany

A specific example for rapid development of a population of insects was observed at
a landfill in Germany. At the end of the seventies first experience was made in
Germany with mechanical-biological pre-treatment. On one of the landfills operated
as rotting landfill with aerobic biological decomposition of waste in windrows before
compacting an explosion of the population of cockroaches occurred.
The cockroaches were released from a wood processing factory, which delivered
weekly wood shavings to the municipal landfill. All of the deliveries of wood shavings
contained some cockroaches, which normally would not have created problems on a
normally operated landfill. The windrows on the other hand guaranteed all the abiotic
factors for a perfect environment for the cockroaches: shelters, warmth, good oxygen
supply, and a lot of organic food. The result was an extremely fast development of a
population of cockroaches with millions of specimens.
The population broke down like the populations of rats and snakes in Jordan
again after compacting the windrows. This special case shows, that rotting landfills
are easily to protect against vermin by compacting the windrows after an intensive
attack of insects. In addition the rotting technique was improved, and one of the
reasons for covering the rotting windrows with pre-treated material is the protection
against vermin (less food, worse living conditions).
These three examples demonstrate the necessity of good landfill operation to prevent
infestations with vermin and birds. Quickly covering of easily biodegradable wastes
like sludge and food waste, compaction of all wastes and small tipping areas will
reduce the problems.

Chapter 1.3

11

The effects on the flora are of less importance. At first damages of plants could be
caused by landfill gas, even in the surrounding of dump sites. Landfill gas collection
and liners can mitigate most of these damages.
A further risk is farming on uncontrolled or abandoned dumps. This may lead to an
uptake of contaminants by the plants. Organisational measures can prevent people
from ingestion of polluted food.

Emissions after Landfill Closure

The environmental impacts caused by landfill operation like traffic noise and tipping
related litter and dust have ceased after the end of landfill operation, but a dumpsite,
which is not restored, is still an open wound in the landscape.
Furthermore dumps and landfills are long-term sources of emissions:
- precipitation and consolidation processes produce leachate
- ongoing degradation processes generating landfill gas.
Every disposal site a dump as well as a landfill has to be covered at least with an
earth layer to mitigate most of the direct problems caused by a heap of open waste:
-

to prevent direct contact of human beings to waste

to prevent direct contact of livestock to waste
to prevent spreading of litter and dust
to integrate the dumpsite into the landscape.

The characteristics of the site, the properties of wastes disposed of, and the
sensitivity of the environment define the quality of the cover of the dumpsite:
- At minimum a cover with soil is necessary, too, to prevent pollution of surface
run-off, to reduce leachate generation, and to improve gas collection.
- A full surface capping system might become indispensable if the effective
rainfall is quite high, and leachate generation has to be minimised.
Last but not least a landfill needs aftercare:
- emission treatment plants must be operated for a limited period
- walk-over controls are important to ensure suitable land use
- especially groundwater needs regular monitoring.
Finally the dumpsite has to be registered to ensure the knowledge about its existence
for the future.

12

Environmental Risks

Environmental Impact Assessment

Despite the fact, that every disposal site - and in particular an uncontrolled dump
has environmental impacts, a landfill can be designed, constructed and operated in
such a way that negative impacts on the environment are reduced to a minimum.
Therefore Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) are an integrated part of all
phases of landfill design. Their objective is to develop the solution with environmental
disadvantages as little as possible in the frame of the local conditions.
Most of the important direct impacts of dumpsites were mentioned in the previous
sections, and some mitigation measures were touched. In addition indirect impacts
like land use conflicts and visible degradation of the urban environment are to be
considered in an EIA.
The EIA should be performed in two stages:
- Stage 1: Site selection
In the course of selection of a suitable site for a landfill an accompanying EIA
is the most appropriate instrument to compare the ecological sensitivity and
the consequences of project related impacts at different sites.
- Stage 2: Landfill design
During the phase of landfill design the EIA is a valuable tool to adapt the
basic design, the barrier systems, and emission treatment plants to the
specific situation of the site selected.
It should be an objective for every party involved in landfill planning to integrate
design and environmental impact assessment as close as possible. The development
of mitigation measures should be understood as a common activity of the design
team and the EIA team.
The EIA has to cover the construction phase, the operation phase, and the postclosure phase of a landfill. Main topics of an EIA are:
-

description of the project

description the environment
description of potential impacts of the project
comparison of alternatives (including the to-do-nothing-alternative)
development of mitigation measures.

A detailed overview of potential negative impacts and mitigation measures is given by

the Sectoral Guidelines of the Environmental Assessment Sourcebook of the WORLD
BANK, 1991. Chapter 2.1 explains how to integrate the EIA-approach into the tasks of
the phase of site selection.

Chapter 1.3

10

Bibliography

OELTZSCHNER, H.; MUTZ, D., 1996: Guidelines for an Appropriate Management of Sanitary
Landfill Sites
Division Water, Waste Management and Protection of Natural Resources
Deutsche Gesellschaft fr Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), Eschborn,
Germany
WORLD BANK, 1991: Environmental Sourcebook, Volume II Sectoral Guidelines
World Bank Technical Paper Number 140
The World Bank, Washington, D.C., USA
Internet-Download, dated 02.08.2006

13