LANDFILL vs WASTE TO ENERGY PLANT
Tehkhand Waste to Electricity Project Limited (TWEPL) is processing approx. 2000 MT MSW daily since inception of the plant operation and hence prevented major environmental degradation
If this waste would have landed in the landfill, then Delhi would have faced following adverse effects:
LAND
Setting a landfill requires an extensive evaluation process to identify the optimum available disposal location. This location must comply with the requirements of the existing governmental regulations and at the same time must minimize economic, environmental, health and social costs
As per the “Estimation of Landfill Capacity, Landfill Height, Landfill Area” given by the Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering organisation, considering landfill height of 20 m and bulk density of waste to be 0.85 t/cu.m, approx. 12 acres of area is required to dump the waste to be processed per year in TWEPL
EMISSIONS
Waste at the landfills have been known to be one of the major sources of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and a key contributor to global warming. Methane (CH4) emission from landfill is estimated to account for 3% - 19% of the anthropogenic sources in the world. CH4 alone constitutes about 29% of the total GHG emissions in India which is nearly twice the worldwide average of 15%. Methane is contributing more to the global warming than carbon dioxide (CO2). By the treatment of municipal solid waste, the emission of methane gas is reduced
LEACHATE
The most common danger to human health from landfills is from the use of polluted groundwater, which has been contaminated by leachate produced from the landfills. Apart from groundwater contamination, leachate percolation into soil results in soil contamination and become environmental hazards for years.
The Leachate Pollution Index value of 42.181 for the Okhla Landfill site indicates that the Leachate generated from this landfill is highly contaminated
The quantity of leachate generation increases with the increased quantity of municipal solid waste. By the treatment of municipal solid waste, the quantity of leachate generation is decreased over the time and the possibility of ground water and soil contamination is reduced too