Abstract:Landfilling is the most commonly used method for solid waste disposal in Jordan. It is an important source of pollution, which can be displayed through analysis of data for climatic conditions, hydrology and geology of the country. The migration of gas and leachate from the landfill body into the surrounding environment present a serious environmental concern, which include groundwater pollution, air pollution with impact on climate through methane emission and potential health hazards. This paper presents an overview of these environmental concerns from landfilling practices and their adverse environmental effects. In this paper, a number of remedial measures needed to minimize these environmental and socio-economic effects are suggested, with in total ten long term and eight short term measures for improving of the solid waste management system of Jordan.

A comprehensive study was conducted to monitor the emission potential from solid waste landfilled in Jordan over a period of 292 days using an anaerobic lysimeter. A 30 kg waste sample reflecting the typical municipal solid waste (MSW) streams generated in Jordan was used to simulate the influence of climate on the emission potential of landfills located in semi-arid areas. The experimental results demonstrated that a significant amount of leachate and landfill gas was produced. The methane content was found to be more than 45% and the leachate produced reached 15.7 l after 200 days. However, after 260 days the gas and leachate production rate became negligible. A significant amount of heavy metal traces was found in the leachate due to mixed waste disposal. Changes in biogas and leachate quality parameters in the lysimeter revealed typical landfill behaviour trends, the only difference being that they developed much more quickly. In view of current landfill practices in Jordan and the effect of climate change, the results suggest that landfill design and operational modes need to be adjusted in order to achieve sustainability. For this reason, optimized design parameters and operational scenarios for sustainable landfill based on the country's climatic conditions and financial as well as technical potential are recommended as a primary reference for future landfills in Jordan as well as in similar regions and climates.

Solid waste management (SWM) strategies offer huge potentials to contribute to climate change mitigation. To assess the potentials of SWM to contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction and resource recovery, available technologies and strategies have to be analyzed. In this work, a SWM-GHG calculator was used to compare different potential strategies for waste management considering economic situation, environmental and social awareness in Jordan. Four scenarios representing the current and suggested technologies (increase recovery, biological treatment, and advance biological treatment) were studied. The results showed that a vast reduction of GHG emission of about 63,175 tons CO 2-eq /year was observed in the fourth scenario where all the organic waste was recovered. Moreover, this scenario increased the net caloric values in reused waste from 8.4 to 9.6 MJ/kg. The results suggest that the SWM-GHG calculator can offer sufficiently accurate approximation of the GHG impacts of different suggested strategies in the country and can serve as an important contribution to decision makers.

Solid waste became one of the major environmental problems in Jordan, which has been aggravated over the past 15 years by the sharp increase in the volume of waste generated as well as qualitative changes in its composition. The challenges face solid waste management (SWM) in Jordan are numerous. Financial constraints, shortage of proper equipment and limited availability of trained and skilled manpower together with massive and sudden population increases due to several waves of forced migration.In this work we discussed these challenges; the main problems which stand against developing this sector to sustainable levels in the coming future are identified. Suggestions and recommendations that should be taken in consideration for developing the sector are also presented.

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