Energetic Efficiency of Landfill: An Italian Case Study

An energetic analysis of an existing landfill for municipal solid waste was performed concerning the period from 2010 to 2014. The amount of energy recovered, of energy consumed, of waste disposed together with their composition, the amount and the quality of the landfill gas generated were monitored during this period. The amount of waste disposed ranged from about 80,000 tonne/year to about 200,000 tonnes/year. Correspondently the landfill gas collected increased from about 2,000,000 Stm3/year to about 4,000,000 Stm3/year. The amount of energy recovered resulted on average 1.4 kWh/ Stm3 corresponding to an average amount of energy recovered per tonne of waste of about 43 kWh. Among the energetic consumptions a predominant role was played by the leachate treatment. Leachate production resulted characterized by a strong variability with a minimum of about 18.600 m3 for the 2012 and a maximum of about 45,000 m3 for the 2014 requiring from 11.7 kWh to 13.2 kWh of electrical energy per each tonne of waste disposed of.