| The Swiss have always been highly environmentally | | | | capping as the seal cannot ever be perfect over a |
| aware, and for a long while have looked after their | | | | time period. |
| environment in an exemplary fashion. | | | | As a consequence of this contact, many chemical |
| The 'Guidelines to waste management in Switzerland' | | | | and microbiological reactions happen. Organic |
| ( EKA, 1986 ) were set in 1986, well ahead of many | | | | compounds can be changed to other organic |
| states. One necessary objective of this as a code of | | | | compounds or inorganic compounds. Inorganic |
| good practice has been that all waste management | | | | compounds can experience many chemical reactions |
| procedures have to provide materials which either | | | | and can be transformed to other inorganic |
| are re-usable or can be disposed of in a landfill | | | | compounds. |
| without any negative or damaging environmental | | | | The products of these reactions and parts of |
| impact for long term periods. | | | | non-reacted MSW can, and eventually will, be |
| This kind of landfilling would be called 'final storage' | | | | transported by leachate and by gas into the |
| and the wastes in the final storage must of course | | | | surrounding area. Additionally, many physical |
| by inference have 'final storage quality'. Emissions | | | | processes, like adsorption, dissolution, rain, etc, can |
| from a final storage quality landfill must be a close fit | | | | happen at the same time. |
| with the quality in the natural environment without | | | | Therefore, a MSW landfill can be accepted as a |
| any additional treatment. Another vital objective of | | | | 'partly continual chemical and microbiological fixed bed |
| the Swiss waste management policy is that each | | | | reactor'. Now that's not a good thing to have in |
| generation handles its waste to a standing of last | | | | contact with groundwater which will often later be |
| storage quality. So the reactions in a landfill to take it | | | | used as drinking water. |
| to final storage quality need to be rapid enough to all | | | | It's also considered as a treatment facility where the |
| be completed within 30 years, and preferably less. | | | | objective it is to get it to self-treat to a landfill body |
| As an effect of this policy, has each borough's solid | | | | of last storage quality. Major research and monitoring |
| waste landfills been shown to be able to reach the | | | | of landfills is a new development, controlled landfills |
| final storage quality inside about thirty years after | | | | having existed for twenty years or so already. |
| disposal? The final storage idea focuses principally on | | | | The present controlled landfills therefore are still in |
| the solid waste itself stabilizing so that the next | | | | the thorough reactor phase in which radical |
| generation will not have to rely instead upon the | | | | microbiological decompositions happen. The behaviour |
| synthetic or natural barriers round the landfill body, | | | | of landfills in this period can be considered |
| and the answer is a resounding no! | | | | approximately correctly using current models. |
| The landfill body has to reach an 'inert' state so the | | | | However, no experience exists with respect to the |
| emissions from the landfill have compatibility with the | | | | long-term behaviour (over even thirty years) of |
| environment for long term periods irrespective of the | | | | MSW landfills. Thanks to the highly complicated nature |
| retardation and attenuation capacities of surrounding | | | | of the systems, a precise prophecy of long term |
| materials. However, this inert state relies on | | | | behaviour of MSW landfills is nearly impossible. |
| geochemical properties of the landfill site materials. | | | | So it is no exaggeration to say that long term |
| The concern is that compounds in the inert landfill | | | | leachate emissions from municipal solid waste landfills |
| body may become 'mobile' when the physical and | | | | are unknown, and yet all over the world every day, |
| chemical conditions in the landfill change, and this will | | | | new and bigger landfills are being built and filled with |
| still be damaging even centuries after the landfill was | | | | waste. |
| filled and revived. | | | | It is all a huge experiment and science has not |
| A correct lining and a correct geological environment | | | | determined the outcome. Even the Swiss, who are |
| are basic must-haves for final storages. They are | | | | arguably some the most responsible guardians of the |
| mandatory for containment, for monitoring and, last | | | | environment on the planet have fallen far short of |
| but not least, for environmental security reasons. | | | | their 1986 ideals. |
| Disposed of in a landfill, community solid waste ( | | | | How can we be so complacent? Shouldn't we all be |
| MSW ) will ultimately come into contact water, which | | | | worried? |
| enters the landfill steadily through rain, even after | | | | |