Development of Landscaped Landfills Using Organic Waste for Sustainable Urban Waste Management

Uncontrolled dumping of waste on open dumps or landfills has become one of the most common methods of disposing waste. Globally, such dumps/landfills have remained as an anomaly in urban landscapes due to its heterogeneous nature and the environmental degradation it causes. This paper considers open dumps/ landfills as specific example cases upgradable to ‘landscaped landfills’ so that landfills transform to be a more sustainable disposal option. Such an approach can be devised only by knowing the quality and quantity of the waste that are disposed in landfills and the background environmental conditions of a particular region. A landfill dominantly of organic/biodegradable character can become a good source of nutrients in developing the soft elements of landscape. In developing a landscaped landfill, the environmental risks associated such as leachate generation, groundwater contamination, greenhouse gas emission and soil stability are major concerns to be addressed. For a long term use of conventional landfills converted into ‘landscaped landfills’ the principles of environmental remediation techniques like phytoremediation, bioremediation and bio reactor landfills have a pivotal role to play.The research work aims at the disposing organic/biodegradable waste on any land or designated open dumps /landfills and simultaneously using the same land for green productive purpose in a cyclic fashion thereby making it a sustainable waste management strategy. The paper discusses the practical issues in converting a landfill into landscaped landfill by doing an onsite experiment using organic kitchen waste considering parameters like the number of households, their expected production of organic waste and suitable worked out land area for dumping, digesting and assimilating waste. In an attempt to streamline the process of planning landscaped landfills, the paper describes a strategy and methodology to convert landfills into a fitting component of typical urban landscapes through enhancing its environmental significance and visual quality for sustainability.