Y. Jani; K. Pehme; A. Bucinskas; J. Burlakovs; W. Hogland
Abstract
Mining landfills and open dumpsites is associated with (40-70% by mass) fine fraction of particle sizes less than 20 or 10 mm. Soil and trace elements of considerable concentrations typically dominate the composition of this fraction. In the present paper, a modified three steps sequential extraction ...
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Mining landfills and open dumpsites is associated with (40-70% by mass) fine fraction of particle sizes less than 20 or 10 mm. Soil and trace elements of considerable concentrations typically dominate the composition of this fraction. In the present paper, a modified three steps sequential extraction procedure was used to fractionate Cu, Zn and Cr in the fine fraction of waste sampled from Högbytorp (Sweden) and Torma (Estonia) landfills. The results showed that the major concentrations of Cu (98.8 and 98.6 wt%) and Cr (98.5% and 98.4 wt %) in fines from Högbytorp and Torma landfills, respectively. These data were found associated to the residual fraction. Noticeable concentrations of Cu and Cr were also found associated within the water -soluble fraction, which could be regarded as a potential risk. The Zn displayed different behavior by distributing in all the sequential extraction fractions in the fine fractions from the two landfills. Specifying the metals content using this method is essential to explore the valorization as well as the potential environmental risks by these fines fractions.
Y. Jani; M. Kriipsalu; K. Mikk Pehme; J. Burlakovs; M. Hogland; G. Denafas; William Hogland
Abstract
Landfills represent a continuous environmental threat due to the emission of different greenhouse gases, which are mainly responsible for the climate changes, and the contaminated leachate that affects the surface and ground water recipients. The circular economy approach appeared as a useful solution ...
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Landfills represent a continuous environmental threat due to the emission of different greenhouse gases, which are mainly responsible for the climate changes, and the contaminated leachate that affects the surface and ground water recipients. The circular economy approach appeared as a useful solution to reduce the depletion of the Earth’s natural resources and the environmental risk effects by considering all of the lost resources like wastes including the landfills as potential secondary resources. It is well known that characterizing the composition of landfill waste is an essential step in specifying the recycling methods. In the current research the waste composition at one of the first EU regulations-compliant sanitary landfills (the Torma landfill in Estonia) was studied. The results showed that the fine fraction (<20 mm) represented 53% of the total excavated waste materials while the waste to energy fraction (plastics, woods etc.) was the highest within the coarse fraction (>20 mm). The present work emphasized that mining landfills can be a good solution either for extracting primary raw materials like metals, as a source for recovering energy, or for acquiring landfill space.