Microbiological

Treatment of Solid Wastes

 Methods
• The top three methods used for the
treatment of solid wastes are:
1. Landfill  2. Composting  3.Vermicomposting.
 Method # 1. Landfill
This approach is used to
treat solid wastes, like
garbage, and the solids
remaining after waste
treatment. The wastes are
used for landfill in which a
natural or man-made pit
or hollow is filled with the
waste, covered with soil
and often landscaped.
 Landfill
• The site of landfill is carefully selected to avoid
subsequent problems; it is highly desirable that
landfills are located in an unused area or a derelict
land. The waste is collected and may be pre-
treated in some way before being placed in the pit.
 Pre treatment
• The pre-treatment may be:

Sorting of the wastes

Mechanical pulverization

Incineration.
 Types
• The landfill practice may be divided into two
classes on the basis of the type of pit used:

Cell emplacement

Trench method
or ‘cut and fill’ method.
 Cell Emplacement
Method
In this method 2.5 m deep cells of suitable size
are excavated at the site of landfill, their size
depending on the amount of garbage to be
dumped each day.
Everyday the waste dumped in the cell is
compacted and covered with about 20 cm
deep layer of soil. The cells may be designed
to be single or multi-layered.
 Cell Emplacement
Method
• A single layered cell is filled to the top by the
solid waste of a single day and covered with
soil. In contrast, multi-layered cells
accommodate the waste of two or more days;
each day, the waste is compacted and covered
with 30-40 cm soil, and when the cell is full it
is covered with 60-90 cm soil layer.
Trench
Method
 Trench Method:
• In this method, long trenches are dug, filled with
waste and covered with soil. In both cell
emplacement and trench methods the soil for
covering the waste is dug from the site of the next
trench/cell.
• However, since about only 20% of the cell/trench
volume is occupied by soil, 80% of the soil excavated
from the second and subsequent cells/trenches will
have to be moved away, unless the level of landfill
site is to be raised above the ground level.
Trench Method:
 Uses of Landfill Sites:
Landfill sites can be useful in the following two ways:
As a source of biogas

For reclamation of derelict sites to develop

landscaped gardens etc.
 Uses of Landfill Sites:
• Landfill sites generate considerable amounts
of methane, which leaks from the soil cover.
This presents a fire hazard and gives foul
odour, but it can be collected and used as
biogas.
 Uses of Landfill Sites:
• The landfill site may be landscaped and
planted with vegetation. But problems may
arise due to toxic substances present in the
waste or produced due to degradation of the
wastes, and many plant species may not
survive.
 Hazards of Landfill:
• The disposal of wastes in landfills presents
several hazards including:
+ Fires in the waste materials,
+ Increase in the population of disease vectors
like flies,
+ Offensive odours,
+ Methane leakage, and
+ Leaching of toxic and corrosive materials into
surface and underground waters.
 Hazards
• The water (leachate) from landfills may
contain 6000-7000 mg/l total solids, Chemical
Oxygen Demand value of 1000-2000 and 800
mg/l sodium, while the outflow from landfills
may have 1000-2000 mg/l total solids, COD
value of 70-80 and 300 mg/l sodium. The risks
of Fires, offensive odours and increased vector
populations may be circumvented by covering
the waste with soil on daily basis.
 Hazards
• The risk due to methane can be removed by
burning or tapping. Similarly, the damage to the
environment from landfill leachate may be
avoided by lining the pit with an impermeable
material like clay, soil-cement mixtures, concrete,
polymeric materials and asphalts. But long- term
containment with some of the linings, e.g., clay, is
questionable. Therefore, specific pre-treatments
of the wastes to reduce toxicity is preferable.
NOM-083-SEMARNAT-2003.
• Environmental Protection Specifications for
site selection, design, construction, operation,
monitoring, closure and complementary
works of a final disposal site of urban solid
waste and special handling.
NOM-083-SEMARNAT-2003. <
• According to NOM-083-SEMARNAT-2003,
sanitary landfills are categorized according to
the amount of MSW and SHW they receive
daily, from homes, businesses and industries
(non-hazardous), as well as street and street
cleaning services and public places. In the
Table you can see the type of Municipality that
corresponds to each category of landfill.
CATEGORIES OF
SANITARY LANDFILLS
Tonnage received at
CATEGOR Equivalent Rank in
final disposal site
Y number of habitants
Ton / day

Greater than
A Greater than 100
100,000

From 50,000 to
B 50 to 100
12,000

From 12,000 to
C 10 and less than 50 6,000

D Under 10 Less than 6,000

WHAT IF?
• IF A FINAL DISPOSITION SITE RECEIVES LESS
THAN 10 TONNES OF WASTE PER DAY, SHOULD
BUILD A LANDFILL?
• According to the established by the NOM-083-
SEMARNAT-2003, yes it is necessary. However,
a municipality that receives less than 10 tonnes
of waste daily in its final disposal site, and
therefore corresponds to category D, must only
comply with the following requirements:
Consider restrictions
on site placement.
• Waterproof the site using natural or artificial
materials to ensure adequate protection of the
subsoil and aquifers.
• Compact the waste to at least 300 kg / m3.
• Cover the waste deposited at least once a week.
• Avoid the entry of hazardous waste.
• Control the harmful fauna and prevent the entry of
animals.
• Enclose the final disposal site in its entirety.
 GENERAL REQUIREMENTS AND SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE SITES FINAL DISPOSITION
Requirements
A. Site selection specifications. A B C D
A.1 Restrictions X X X X
A.2 Studies and analyzes prior to site selection X
A.3 Studies and analysis prior to construction.
A.3.1 Topographic. X X
A.3.2 Geotechnical. X X X
A.3.3 Geological / Hydrogeological. X X
A.3.4 Generation and composition of X X X
waste.
A.3.5 Biogas generation. X X
A.3.6 Generation of leachate X X
 GENERAL REQUIREMENTS AND SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE SITES FINAL DISPOSITION
B. Constructive and operational characteristics.
A B C D
B.1 Waterproof Barrier 1x10-7 1x10-7 1x10-7 1x10-5
cm/s cm/s cm/s cm/s
B.2 Extraction, collecting, conduction and X X X
control of biogas
B.3 Collecting and extraction of leachate X X X
B.4 Rain Collection X X X
B.5 Emergency Area X X X
B.6 Compacting (kg/m3) 600- >500 >400 >300
700
B.7 Covering. Daily Daily Daily Weekly
B.8 Control de entrada de residuos X X X X
B.9 Complementary Works See See See See
NOM NOM NOM NOM
B.10 Operations Handbook X X X
B.11 Environmental monitoring program X X X
 GENERAL REQUIREMENTS AND SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE SITES FINAL DISPOSITION
C. Closing of the site
A B C D
C.1 Final cover. See See See See
NOM NOM NOM NOM
C.2 Conformation final. X X X X
C.3 Maintenance. X X X X
C.4 Monitoring program. X X X X
C.5 Final use. X X X X
HOW SHOULD THE
STANDARD BE FULFILLED?
• All final disposal sites must adhere to the
standard, with the environmental authorities
of the three orders of government monitoring
compliance. The steps to follow are those:
OBTAIN ALL THE INFORMATION
• Related to the final disposal service that the
municipality currently has.
• This includes the characteristics of the land,
the amount of RSU and RME that enter it
daily, infrastructure with which it counts, form
of operation, useful life, etc.
KNOW THIS INFORMATION
• The tons per day of USW and SHW entering
the current disposal site (see Table 3).
• It is thus possible to establish the category of
sanitary landfill in accordance with the norm,
and with this, to be able to know the
requirements and criteria required for each
modality.
COMPARE INFORMATION
• Compare the actual information with the criteria of
NOM-083-SEMARNAT-2003 (see Table 5). On the
criteria of municipal managers, if the final disposal
site with which it is currently in place meets all the
requirements, 14 Request to be under the
supervision of federal and state environmental
authorities at any time and to know that there are
no anomalies in site location, protection of soil and
aquifers, form of operation, environmental
monitoring, etc.
WHAT TO DO WITH THE
CURRENT FINAL DISPOSITION SITE?
• The current final disposal site of the municipality may be
in one of two situations:
• A) complies with NOM-083-SEMARNAT-2003 or b) does
not comply with the standard.
• In case a) it is recommended that the municipality apply to
the competent authorities in Conformity Assessment
Procedure (PEC) to obtain the NOM Compliance
Statement (optional). For both cases (a) and (b) it will be
necessary to develop a Regularization Plan (PR) and / or
closure of the site, as compliance with the law is
mandatory.
 Method # 2. Composting:
• Composting is a self-heating, substrate-dense,
managed microbial system, and one solid-phase
biological treatment technology.
• This technology is suitable to the treatment of large
amount of contaminated solid materials.
• However, many hazardous compounds prove
resistant to microbial degradation due to their
complex chemical structure, toxicity and compound
concentration that hardly support growth.
 Composting
• Microbial growth is also affected by moisture,
pH, inorganic nutrients and particle size.
• Since composting of hazardous wastes
typically involves the bioremediation of
contaminated substrate-sparse soils, support
of microbial self-heating needs incorporation
of proper amount of supplements.
 Composting
• The hazardous compounds reported to
disappear through composting includes:
aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons and
certain halogenated compounds.
The possible routes leading to disappearance
of hazardous compounds include:
volatilization, assimilation, adsorption,
polymerization and leaching
 Composting
• Can be done in open system i.e. land
treatment, and in closed system. The open
land system can be inexpensive treatment
method, but the temperature fluctuates from
summer to winter. Therefore, rate of
biodegradation of waste materials declines.
Secondly, land treatment system may become
oxygen limited, depending on amount of
substrate, depth of waste, application, etc.
Method # 3.
Vermicomposting:
• Vermicomposting is the phenomenon of
compost formation by earthworms. 
• The earthworms can consume 10-20 per cent
of their own biomass per day.
 Vermicomposting:
• The most significant effect of earthworms in
agro-ecosystems is the increase in nutrient
cycling, particularly nitrogen. They ingest
organic matter with a relatively wide C: N ratio
and convert it to earthworm tissue with a
lower C: N ratio. Thus, they affect the physico-
chemical properties of soil.
• Some of the known and potential waste
decomposer earthworms (such as Drawidia
nepalensis, etc.) may be introduced in such
places where they are absent. Kausal and
Bisht (1992) studied growth and cocoon
production of D. nepalensis on urine-free
cow and horse manure. D. nepalensis is
slow growing vermicomposting species and
also shows parthenogenesis.