Rehabilitation methods for open dumps and its global applications: SMARTEnvi Eu project

Abstract

A European Union project called 'Smart Decision Tools for Reducing Hazards to Our Environment and Water Resources by Rehabilitating Open Dumps (SMARTEnvi)' is underway related to the rehabilitation of MSW open dumps. This project aims to develop pilot, and test innovative digital tools for reducing hazards to the environment and water resources by rehabilitating open dumps via training methods and materials using competence tool, multilingual e-learning-platform, learning modules, and smart guidance manual. The topic of one of the learning modules is about rehabilitation methods and engineering applications. The rehabilitation methods for open dumps and its global applications, which will be discussed in this study, will be an output of the mentioned learning module of SMARTEnvi project. Different methods have been used for the rehabilitation of open dump sites. In situ rehabilitation, rehabilitation after mechanical separation, and rehabilitation by waste transportation are mainly rehabilitation methods. The open dump rehabilitation process mainly includes condition assessment, planning, and implementation steps, regardless of which method is used. In the rehabilitation process, surface water and leachate control system and gas drainage systems can be listed as processes that should be applied during rehabilitation. During the rehabilitation method, the state and the needs of the open dump and the surrounding settlements should be considered. The effective parameters related to method selection are location, size of the area, amount of solid waste disposed at open dump sites, and nearness to underground and surface waters. In addition, rehabilitation cost is also an important parameter. In this study, different rehabilitation methods and some common global applications of these methods will be explained.