| There is so much talk in the developed nations about | | | | - landfill "garbage juice" or "leachate" - dirty rainwater |
| recycling and reducing the filling of landfills, and even | | | | which seeps through the waste - and can badly |
| ceasing to use landfills as in the philosophy of "zero | | | | pollute groundwater when it seeps into the ground |
| waste", that it is easy for us in the west to forget | | | | - leachate which can break-out of landfill sides and |
| what is happening elsewhere. It is a fact that with | | | | pollute nearby rivers and streams |
| rising global affluence, landfills are being built ever | | | | - dust, which can possibly contain infectious agents |
| faster around the world as whole, and ever bigger, | | | | - noise from the landfilling activity |
| to take the still rising tide of man's waste. | | | | - birds which can spread disease and move between |
| In the industrializing nations there is far less regulation | | | | suburban gardens and open tip faces. |
| of landfills than in the developed countries, and | | | | Now, that's a pretty big list of possible negative |
| although in nations such as the US, and throughout | | | | effects of landfills on the environment. You would |
| the European Union, the law in the form of each | | | | think that it would be best to just completely contain |
| nation's Waste Regulations requires all landfills to be | | | | them seal them up (at huge cost) like a huge |
| lined and capped as "containment" landfills, the same | | | | garbage big, with a lined floor and a sealed cap on |
| does not apply in most less developed countries. | | | | top. |
| Those people that are choosing landfill site locations in | | | | But it isn't necessarily. You could just let the |
| the developing nations have more freedom to either | | | | rainwater that falls, run through them and out of the |
| damage, or protect the environment, and that is why | | | | bottom, and if the bottom was build like a big |
| it is so important that they consider landfills and the | | | | biological filter the environment around the landfill |
| environment from the start of their landfill project. | | | | would never be harmed. |
| The main impacts that a landfill can potentially have | | | | These are often called "dilute and disperse" landfills, |
| on the environment come under the following | | | | and such landfills have the great advantage that they |
| headings: | | | | are cheap to build and the rain flowing through them |
| - landfill gas emissions and dust to the air as a local | | | | flows out of the bottom, removing the need for |
| problem with odours etc | | | | expensive leachate tankerage off-site or a leachate |
| - landfill gas seeping out sideways from a landfill - | | | | treatment plant. |
| which could get into houses etc | | | | These "dilute and disperse" landfills will also eventually |
| - landfill gas getting out into the atmosphere where | | | | have been flushed clean by the rain falling on them |
| scientists believe it will add to the greenhouse effect | | | | and then soaking through them in a way that is not |
| that is causing global warming | | | | possible for a containment landfill site. |