Landfill gases are produced due to biodegradation of organic fraction of municipal solid waste (MSW) when water comes into contact with buried wastes under prevailing anaerobic conditions. To minimize the percolation of water in landfills, the conventional approaches such as clay capping is still practised in India. As landfill gas extraction system is an expensive technique,'Phytocapping' to mitigate landfill gases and to minimize percolation of water into the landfill can be one of the attractive alternatives. The present study aimed to determine efficiency of a laboratory-scale phytocap in terms of methane emissions, heavy metals' remediation and plant-soil interactions in Indian climatic conditions using six native plants in five planters (30 cm × 30 cm × 25 cm) with 5 kg of MSW. Overall methane oxidation due to vegetation was observed throughout the vegetated planters when compared to non-vegetated planters. Root zone methane concentrations were also monitored for the plant species, with the highest reduction occurring in root zones of Agave sisalana and Bambusa sulfurea and highest trace elements' remediation potential was observed in Brassica juncea and Helianthus annus plants. 96-98% of CH oxidation and 85-89% of heavy metals remediation was achieved through the study.
Landfill gases (LFG) are produced due to biodegradation of organic fraction of municipal solid waste (MSW) when water comes in contact with buried wastes. The conventional clay cover is still practiced to mitigate the percolation of water in landfills in India. Gas extraction systems in landfill for gas collection are used but are much expensive. Thus, "Phytocapping" technique can be one of the alternatives to mitigate landfill gases and to minimize percolation of water into the landfill. Indian plants with locally available soil and municipal solid waste can be tested for the purpose of methane mitigation, heavy metals remediation from leachate. Methane oxidation due to vegetation can be observed compared to non-vegetated landfill. Root zone methane concentrations can be monitored for the plant species.
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