Landfill aeration worldwide: Concepts, indications and findings

The creation of sustainable landfills is a fundamental goal in waste management worldwide. In this connection landfill aeration contributes towards an accelerated, controlled and sustainable conversion of conventional anaerobic landfills into a biological stabilized state associated with a minimised emission potential. The technology has been successfully applied to landfills in Europe, North America and Asia, following different strategies depending on the geographical region, the specific legislation and the available financial resources. Furthermore, methodologies for the incorporation of landfill aeration into the carbon trade mechanisms have been developed in recent years. This manuscript gives an overview on existing concepts for landfill aeration; their application ranges and specifications. For all of the described concepts examples from different countries worldwide are provided, including details regarding their potentials and limitations. Some of the most important findings from these aeration projects are summarised and future research needs have been identified. It becomes apparent that there is a great demand for a systematisation of the available results and implications in order to further develop and optimise this very promising technology. The IWWG (International Waste Working Group) Task Group “Landfill Aeration” contributes towards the achievement of this goal.

► Different landfill aeration concepts and accordant application areas are described.
► Examples of full scale projects are provided for Europe, North-America and Asia.
► Major project findings are summarised, including prospects and limitations.
► Inconsistencies between laboratory and full scale results have been elaborated.
► An explanatory approach in connection with the inconsistencies is provided.