Modeling the leachate flow and aggregated emissions from municipal waste landfills under life cycle thinking in the Oceanic region of the Iberian Peninsula

• A mathematical method to determine landfill emissions via leachate was developed.
• The model is focused on Iberian landfills located in the highest rainfall area.
• The model provides an estimation of pollutants release and average leachate production.
• The waste composition is used as data entry.
• Comparison with field data guarantees the use of this model for the Oceanic territory.

The most extensively used option for the management of municipal solid waste in the Iberian Peninsula is landfilling. Due to the impossibility of distinguishing emissions from the different types of waste with direct measurements, models have to be developed. A mathematical method to determine the leachate composition from different types of landfilled wastes was proposed according to a life cycle assessment approach.The model was specially designed to foresee the average generation of leachate in Iberian facilities through the application of a water balance. However, according to climatic differences related to rainfall and temperature, the entire territory is not homogenous and it should not be modeled jointly. Among the different regions, this research work was focused on the worst case scenario with landfills located in the highest rainfall area (the Oceanic region), where a large production of leachate is expected.With the only requirement of waste composition as data entry, the resultant model provides an estimation of pollutant release and the average leachate production in the Oceanic region. The applicability of both parts of the model was successfully verified with three case studies. The validation was carried out not only through the comparison of field data with the sum of the estimated individual emissions, but also through the contrast of aqueous effluent collected in landfills against the medium value calculated for the Oceanic territory taking into consideration regional weather information. It also enabled to identify those waste fractions responsible for greater environmental impacts.