Title: Successful illegal dumpsite remediation: a landfill mining demonstration project at Andalusia (Spain)

Authors: David Caro-Moreno; Germán Coca-López; Francisco J. Rodríguez-Gallardo; Francisco A. Jiménez-Cantizano

Addresses: Environmental and Water Agency, Regional Government of Andalusia, (Agencia de Medio Ambiente y Agua de Andalucía, AMAyA), Johan G. Gutenberg 1, 41092 Seville, Spain ' Council of Sustainability, Environment and Blue Economy of Andalusia (Consejería de Sostenibilidad, Medio Ambiente y Economía Azul), Manuel Siurot, 50, 41013 Seville, Spain ' Environmental and Water Agency, Regional Government of Andalusia, (Agencia de Medio Ambiente y Agua de Andalucía, AMAyA), Johan G. Gutenberg 1, 41092 Seville, Spain ' Environmental and Water Agency, Regional Government of Andalusia, (Agencia de Medio Ambiente y Agua de Andalucía, AMAyA), Johan G. Gutenberg 1, 41092 Seville, Spain

Abstract: Landfill mining (LfM) is an emerging remediation technique consisting of the valorisation of waste materials by the excavation and sorting of existing landfill sites. In this study, we assessed the first LfM project performed in Andalusia (Spain). This full-scale pilot was carried out in an aged municipal landfill adjacent to the town of Dehesas Viejas (Granada). The landfill largely consisted of construction and demolition wastes, illegally dumped without any treatment on a steep rocky hillslope. More than 90% of materials deposited in the landfill were recovered, mainly soil-like materials followed by coarse recycled aggregates. High amounts of sulphate ions were detected on the aggregate's leachates, although they were mainly classified as non-hazardous according to EU criteria. However, this contamination did not limit their potential valorisation in mine restoration or, taking the appropriate measures, road construction. The area occupied by the landfill was completely restored with no need for long-term maintenance.

Keywords: landfill mining; LfM; landfill management; waste characterisation; waste-to-material; recycled aggregates; Spain.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEE.2023.132627

International Journal of Environmental Engineering, 2023 Vol.12 No.2, pp.95 - 122

Received: 26 Sep 2022
Accepted: 23 Jan 2023
Published online: 31 Jul 2023 *

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