Economic potential of leachate evaporation by using landfill gas: A system dynamics approach

A system dynamics (SD) approach that models the economic potential of a regional incineration plant by using landfill gas to evaporate waste leachate is proposed in this study. A case study is provided to demonstrate application of the proposed approach, which takes an incineration plant and an adjacent sanitary landfill located at Chengdu City, China into account. Two scenarios are divided by different ratios of leachate evaporation and landfill gas utilization to examine the economic revenues obtained by the incineration plant. The optimal scenario with the best economic performance is identified to incorporate into future waste management practice. The limitations of this approach are discussed, laying a foundation for further work.