A study on management planning after closing of an open dumping site in Perlis

Abstract

Landfill must be closed when all of the available space of the site has been filled with solid waste. Due to the concern of the environment and public hazard problem, landfill closure should be developed with a part of an engineered landfill through a planning before construction and landfilling operations begin. In this study, the management aspect and processes involved in the development of landfill closure has been described. In the development of closure plan, the elements that must be addressed in the management are final cover design, surface water and drainage control system, landfill gas, leachate treatment and environmental monitoring systems. Besides that, the characterization of leachate and leachate pre-treatment in Kuala Perlis landfill closure has been done. Parameters tested on the leachate were BOD, COD, pH, NH3-N, Zn and Cr6+, where only the values of COD and NH3-N were out of range prescribed under Standard B of Environmental Quality (Sewage and Industrial Effluents) Regulations, 1979. Pre-treatment of leachate by using phytoremediation method was done in order to reduce the concentration of heavy metals, Zinc (Zn) and Chromium (Cr6+) in leachate sample. In the phytoremediation treatment, the leachate sample was tested once in a week for one month with four times irrigation of leachate. Through this treatment, the final result indicated that the treatment by using Reed Beds plant has constantly reduced the concentrations of Chromium between 20 till 33% in leachate rather than Zinc (-194 till 69%).