The present research studies the characterisation and the physico-chemical properties of an excavated fine fraction (<10 mm) from a Swedish landfill, the Högbytorp. The results showed that the fine fraction represents 38% by mass of the total excavated wastes and it contains mainly soil-type materials and minerals. Higher concentrations of zinc, copper, barium and chromium were found with concentrations higher than the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for contaminated soil. The found moisture and organic contents of the fine fraction were 23.5% and 16.6%, respectively. The analysed calorific value (1.7 MJ kg), the potential of CH (4.74 m t dry matter) and Total Organic Carbon (TOC) (5.6%) were low and offer low potential of energy. Sieving the fine fraction further showed that 80% was smaller than 2 mm. The fine represents a major fraction at any landfill (40%-70%), therefore, characterising the properties of this fraction is essential to find the potential of reusing/recycling or safely redisposing.

For the next century to come, one of the biggest challenges is to provide the mankind with relevant and sufficient resources. The recovery of secondary resources plays a significant role. The industrial processes developed for regaining minerals for production of commodities in a circular economy become ever more important in the European Union and worldwide. Landfill mining (LFM) constitutes an important technological toolset of processes that regain the resources and redistribute them with an accompanying diminishment of hazardous influence of environmental contamination and other threats for human health hidden in former dump sites and landfills. 'Classical LFM' is a useful technology to discover hidden resources and look at the big picture of resources in the local, regional and global perspective. Therefore, this paper considers development of paradigms and attitudes to LFM as the technology for regaining calorific value; the furthering of deposited material valuable to more advanced concepts of enhanced LFM (ELFM); the recovery of landfill space and land value, and, finally, the possibility of full ecosystem services revitalization. The future of our civilisation depends on our wise use of commodities. Thus, waste operations beyond the Zero waste concept must be applied if mankind is to conquer space and the abyssal plains to conduct mining in the deepest oceans on the Earth. Other research areas feasible for LFM in terms of the environmental rehabilitation are given in the review. This compilation summarises the previous, current and future trends of LFM 2 technology regarding the paradigm developments that are influencing the attitude of scientists, industry and society to LFM as a complex tool for implementing the circular economy in practice. This review paper is based on a historical overview of global case studies and explores the methodology of waste management as regards the different tools for geochemical, geophysical and remote sensing that are used for field studies prior to the decisions whether LFM will be successful in an individual case. New technological developments of ELFM for the energy industry is described combined with a review of innovative material production. One chapter is dedicated to the Efficient Use of Resources and Optimal Production Economy (EUROPE) estimation model. The hazardous impacts of landfills, such as greenhouse gas emission and pollutants, are discussed. Throughout history, the major part of the 'LFM economy' has been viewed from a point of view of recovery of natural resources. Therefore, our main philosophy was to provide a historical experience linking with modern ideas of LFM to the increasingly relevant concept of a circular economy. The world is heading towards a restricted access to key resources. However, humanity should not limit itself to frame these restrictions but should also have a profound view on the global economy and life styles for future generations from an environmental and non-material resource standpoint. It is concluded that the big ...

Landfill mining is an alternative technology that merges the ideas of material recycling and sustainable waste management. This paper reports a case study to estimate the value of landfilled materials and their respective market opportunities, based on a full-scale landfill mining project in Estonia. During the project, a dump site (Kudjape, Estonia) was excavated with the main objectives of extracting soil-like final cover material with the function of methane degradation. In total, about 57,777 m of waste was processed, particularly the uppermost 10-year layer of waste. Manual sorting was performed in four test pits to determine the detailed composition of wastes. 11,610 kg of waste was screened on site, resulting in fine (<40 mm) and coarse (>40 mm) fractions with the share of 54% and 46%, respectively. Some portion of the fine fraction was sieved further to obtain a very fine grained fraction of <10 mm and analyzed for its potential for metals recovery. The average chemical composition of the <10 mm soil-like fraction suggests that it offers opportunities for metal (Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn) extraction and recovery. The findings from this study highlight the importance of implementing best available site-specific technologies for on-site separation up to 10 mm grain size, and the importance of developing and implementing innovative extraction methods for materials recovery from soil-like fractions.

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