MODEL OF SECURE LANDFILL USING ABANDONED MINE PIT-TECHNICAL AND ECONOMIC IMPERATIVES IN POOR DEVELOPING NATIONS

摘要

One growing environmental degradation in poor developing nations is abandoned mine pits. Soon after, these quarries and borrow pits become urban waste dump sites, causing environmental hazards. In most of these countries, including Nigeria, there is no certified sanitary or secure landfill. There is apathy in allocation of fund for waste management and in procurement of land for landfill resulting to poor sanitary conditions. Other challenges facing landfill technology in less advanced society is the cost and availability of suitable bottom liner and other material inputs. To overcome these issues, this paper presents a model design converting abandoned mine pit (AMP) to a secure landfill. Here, clay is used as bottom liner followed by sand/gravel as leachate reservoir, then soil as stabilizer before the waste. This model is affordable, and will achieve the desired security which borders on preventing leachate migration from the wastes to the surrounding environment, particularly groundwater. Other factors supporting this economically secure landfill model are simple design of leachate collection, cheap daily cover, no gas collection and cheap operational cost. Against $20,000,000.00, required for setting up a profit making medium UNEP model landfill, AMP nonprofit landfill model could be set up with about $2,000,000.00. This amount is affordable by governments in most developing nations with or without external aid.