Recovery and Disposal of Solid Waste in Landfills - Research Paper Example

Recovery and Disposal of Solid Waste in Landfills Recovery supports recycling by ensuring all the recyclable material brought into the different plants are ready for marketing. Solid waste that would have been sent to a landfill may be broken down and systematically separated in a solid waste recovery system. The recovery system receives refuse from different areas and separates them into different components, for example; compostable and non-compostable material. The non-compostable material is separated into recyclable material, often brought back as resalable objects.

Organics, which may be non-compostable, are divided into hospital and clinical wastes disposed through incineration or as hazardous waste (Worrell and Vesilind 79). Recovery operations in a mixed-waste materials recovery facility involve manual and mechanical sorting. This aids in separating recyclables, which further undergo processing to meet some technical standards. Afterwards, the mixed waste stream might be sent to a landfill for further disposal. Disposal of waste in landfills may have created problems for people and the environment.

Landfills that were not properly taken care of or handled led to the creation of various problems. The problems associated with landfills made it possible for people to create sanitary landfills. These are areas designed to isolate waste from the immediate environment until it is no longer a threat. It is in this area that the waste is considered completely degraded (Ramchandra 84). The flexible membrane in liners has allowed liners to temporarily address the issue of groundwater contamination.

The clay soil that lines the sides and bottom of the landfills works toward protecting the surrounding groundwater from any leachate releases. The liners are then fitted with leachate collection and removal systems, which remove leachate for treatment and disposal (Jayarama 106). Works CitedJayarama, Reddy P. Municipal Solid Waste Management: Processing-Energy Recovery- Global Examples. New York: Taylor & Francis Group, 2011. Print.Ramchandra, Rao S. Resource, Recovery, and Recycling from Metallurgical Wastes.

New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. Print.Worrell, William A., and Aarne P. Vesilind. Solid Waste Engineering. 2nd ed. New York: CENGAGE, 2012. Print.