Daniel Wibisana (1306437076)

Integrated Waste Management

El Khobar Nazech
October 27, 2015

Landfill vs Incinerator
Introduction
Around two billion tons of waste is produced every year all around the world. Due to
negative health and environmental impacts, these wastes would have to be stored somewhere and
be processed. This is where waste management becomes important in every country. Waste
management means collection, transport, and processing or disposal of waste. Integrated waste
management aims to minimize the negative impacts of materials that become waste, and at the
same time it also has to be beneficial for the economy. There are different ways of waste
management, which are landfilling, incineration, bio-treatment, and recycling. The two methods
of residential solid waste disposal being discussed here are landfill and incineration. Both
methods present advantages as well as disadvantages that are associated with the environment,
technology, financial, political, and regulations. Due to the growth of population, waste
generated is also increasing. The activities of waste collection, treatment and disposal of solid
waste become a challenge for local governments all around the world. Studies concerning cost,
performance and technology analysis have to be done to help choose the most suitable solid
waste management plan and actions.

Landfill
The option to bury a trash or waste is landfilling. A landfill is a structure designed and
built into or on top of the ground that isolates the waste from the surrounding environment,
including groundwater and air. Isolation is accomplished by a bottom liner and a daily covering

of soil. The purpose of landfill is simply to bury trash, isolating it from groundwater, and kept
away from coming in contact with the air. To build a landfill, an environmental impact study
must be done to determine the area of land necessary for the landfill, the composition of the
underlying soil and bedrock, the flow of water over the site, and the impact of proposed landfill
on the local environment. Then after these studies are done, a landfill can be constructed. A
landfill should not be like an open dump, where waste is simply placed into or on the ground.
A good landfill must have basic parts which have important operational functions. First of
all, it has to have a bottom liner system which divides or separates waste and leachate from the
groundwater. This prevents waste from coming in contact with the outside or lower soil. This
bottom liner is made of synthetic plastic with specified thickness and can be combined with
compacted soil as an additional liner. Secondly, it has to have storm water drainage system that
collects rain water that falls on the landfill. The landfill needs to be kept as dry as possible to
reduce the amount of leachate. Pipes can be installed to collect water from landfill areas and
channel it to a pond or a ditch. Another important part of a landfill is leachate collection system.
Leachate collection simply collects water that is contained within the waste and stores it in a
leachate pond. This water picks up contaminants from the waste and it is acidic. Landfill not only
extracts harmful liquid from the waste, but it also releases gas that contains bacteria into the air.
Landfill gas is produced by the natural biodegradation of organic waste. This is where a methane
collection is also one of the important parts of a landfill. The methane is collected by the vertical
drains and directed to a biogas plant to generate energy. The breakdown of landfill gas contains
about 50 percent methane and 50 percent carbon dioxide. This can present danger because
methane gas can explode or burn and has to be removed or stored. Methane and carbon dioxide
can contribute to the problem of global warming, but methane gas is also a potential source of
energy. Trash in the landfill needs to be compacted daily and layered with soil. The next day,
another layer of trash and soil is placed and compacted on top. This is done to maximize the
capacity and usable life of a landfill. By increasing air space, the usable life of a landfill is
extended. Then finally once the landfill reaches its specified height, it is given a covering or a
cap to prevent pests from getting into the trash. This covering can be done by using compacted
soil and later can be planted with vegetation to prevent erosion.

Incineration
Incineration is another method of waste disposal, which involves the burning or
combustion of waste to produce thermal heat. This is also known as the waste-to-energy method.
Incinerator is a facility that burns trash and other type of waste until it is reduced into bottom
ash, flue gases, particulates, and steam that can be used to produce electricity. Incineration does
not replace landfill, but it significantly reduces huge volume of waste. External heat must not be
created due to its construction and the need for efficient burning, which means all the heat stays
inside the incinerator to quickly and effectively burn the trash. There are different types of
incinerators for different types of waste.
The technology of incineration is able to capture the heat generated from the combustion
of waste. The heat is transferred through the boiler tube walls to water waiting in a boiler. The
heat from combustion heats up the water, the water is then turned into steam and the steam turns
turbines used to generate electricity. There are different types of incineration based on the
technology used. Mass burn incineration is the common and most popular type of incineration.
Waste is simply placed in the incinerator to be burned. The technology used today is evidently
less harmful than the ones used several decades ago. Typical incinerator includes mobile or fixed
grate combustors, rotary kilns, and fluidized bed combustors. The most common incineration
operation is the mobile grate combustor, which is mass burn, offering the largest treatment
capacity of waste.

Figure: (Left) Conventional waste incineration plant and (right) moving grate combustor.
Incineration process use excess air in order to complete its combustion process. This
excess air also results in a large volume of flue gases. Flue gases result in significant heat losses,
which then require more treatment to be handled.
Incineration Products
The products and pollution of incineration are dependent on the quality of the
incineration process, which are controlled by the excess air available so that proper oxidation
occurs. The major components of the gas produced are steam, carbon dioxide, and oxygen. Solid
pollutants are also present during incineration processes in the form of soot and tar as well as ash
materials carried by the flow of gas from the combustion chamber, which are fly ash and
aerosols. Carbon monoxide can also be produced, but with sufficient oxygen available it is
transformed into carbon dioxide. Heavy metals materials can also be present in the flue gas or
covering the surface of emitted particles as well as other hazardous compounds in the
combustion products.
Energy Production
Energy is produced through incineration process of solid waste is accomplished by
recovering as much heat as possible from the combustion products. This is achieved through the
use of a steam generator which may be used separately to produce electricity where some

thermal energy recovery also takes place. When thermal energy production is desired, the
combustion products of the incinerator are used with a heat exchanger to produce saturated
steam. But when electricity production or combined heat and power production is desired,
superheated steam is typically produced.
The production of steam and heat is the most optimal technique for energy recovery both
in terms of energy efficiency and life cycle assessments, for some places or countries there may
not necessarily be a demand for the thermal energy produced. In fact, many waste-to-energy
plants are not located where there is a requirement for domestic hot water for residential
customers or a nearby industrial plant even though they require heat for its own process.

Advantages and disadvantages of Landfill and Incinerator

Both landfill and incinerator present direct and indirect activities that contribute to solid
waste output, energy use, and air and water releases, which are considered to be the
environmental parameters. The two disposal methods still produce waste while attempting to
dispose waste From the energy use point of view, both landfilling and incineration use energy in
transportation to collect solid waste. Vehicles that transport waste or ash to or from the landfill or
incinerator consume fuel. Landfill or incinerator equipment also uses electricity to operate. Both
methods of disposal still produce solid waste output, which are the landfill material itself and ash
from the combustion process. Landfill also release gas as a result of waste decomposition,
meanwhile, incinerator releases gas from waste combustion to the environment. Other than
having environmental impacts, landfill and incinerator also have economic impacts on societies.
Advantages of Landfill and Incinerator

References
http://www.isfoundation.com/campaign/environment-fight-club-incinerators-vs-landfills-round-2
http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/landfill6.htm
http://www.no-burn.org/section.php?id=84
http://gulzar05.blogspot.co.id/2010/04/municipal-waste-landfills-vs.html

http://e360.yale.edu/feature/incineration_versus_recycling__in_europe_a_debate_over_trash/268
6/