In Europe, a Council Directive passed in 1999 provided for the regulation of waste disposal in landfills. This was a specific piece of legislation aimed at environmental control of new and currently operational installations. As a result, it has become necessary to adapt currently operational release points to make them compatible with the new legislation. This new situation has obliged the different environmental organisations to carry out a stocktaking of release points in order to draw up a conditioning plan or a closing plan in accordance with the directive. The present study describes a new methodology by which environmental diagnosis of landfill sites may be carried out, involving the formulation of environmental indexes that give information about the potential environmental problems of currently operational landfills. The indexes provide information related to the location, design and operation in order to help draw up action plans for the conditioning or closure of the landfill site and to prioritise the order of actions required.
Current legislation in the European Union regarding landfills provides measures, procedures and guidance to prevent or reduce, insofar as possible, negative effects on the environment. This means that Member States must take measures so that landfills cannot operate unless the operator first presents a plan for the site, which includes the implementation of improvements considered necessary by the engineer for compliance with regulations. Researchers at the University of Granada have developed a method to ascertain the degree of environmental impact that a construction and demolition waste landfill may produce on its immediate surroundings. This methodology is based on environmental indexes; its objective is to give crucial information concerning possible environmental problems produced by a landfill. The data thus obtained will permit the elaboration of guidelines for improvements in the location, design, and operation of landfills, or in extreme cases, their dosing, sealing, and rehabilitation.
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