Chemical Characterization and Sorption Capacity Measurements of Degraded Newsprint from a Landfill

Abstract

Newsprint samples collected from 12-16 ft (top layer (TNP)), 20-24 ft (middle layer (MNP)), and 32-36 ft (bottom layer (BNP)) below the surface of the Norman Landfill (NLF) were characterized by infrared (IR) spectroscopy, cross-polarization, magic-angle spinning 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (CP-MAS 13C NMR) spectroscopy, and tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) thermochemolysis gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The extent of NLF newsprint degradation was evaluated by comparing the chemical composition of NLF newsprint to that of fresh newsprint (FNP) and newsprint degraded in the laboratory under methanogenic conditions (DNP). The O-alkyl/alkyl, cellulose/lignin, and lignin/resin acid ratios showed that BNP was the most degraded, and that all three NLF newsprint samples were more degraded than DNP. 13C NMR and TMAH thermochemolysis data demonstrated selective enrichment of lignin over cellulose, and TMAH thermochemolysis further exhibited selective enrichment of resin acids over lignin. In addition, the crystallinity of cellulose in NLF newsprint samples was significantly lower relative to that of FNP and DNP as shown by 13C NMR spectra. The yield of lignin monomers from TMAH thermochemolysis suggested that hydroxyl groups were removed from the propyl side chain of lignin during the anaerobic decomposition of newsprint in the NLF. Moreover, the vanillyl acid/aldehyde ratio, which successfully describes aerobic lignin degradation, was not a good indicator of the anaerobic degradation of lignin on the basis of the TMAH data. The toluene sorption capacity increased as the degree of newsprint degradation increased or as the O-alkyl/alkyl ratio of newsprint decreased. The results of this study further verified that the sorbent O-alkyl/ alkyl ratio is useful for predicting sorption capacities of natural organic materials for hydrophobic organic contaminants.

Biogeochemical Evolution of a Landfill Leachate Plume, Norman, Oklahoma

“…Moreover, changes to the physical and chemical properties of the waste with progressive decomposition can alter the composition and transport properties of mobile organic contaminants in the leachate over time. For example, degraded newsprint in the Norman Landfill, which accounts for greater than 30% of the MSW typically buried in a landfill of this age, has five times the sorptive capacity of undegraded newsprint for compounds such as toluene (Chen et al 2004).…”

Detailed internal characterisation of two Finnish landfills by waste sampling

“…Sampling before or in conjunction with the construction of gas recovery wells or leachate recirculation, especially at sites with limited existing information, may have economic benefits to optimise the gas extraction or liquid recirculation methods. Landfills have been previously sampled to estimate the rate of degradation of MSW and its different waste components (e.g., Hartz and Ham, 1983;Bogner, 1990;Gurijala and Suflita, 1993;Baldwin et al, 1998;Jokela et al, 2002;Gardner et al, 2003) while -to our knowledge -only a few studies have been published on vertical profiles of pH, temperature, moisture, organics, cellulose, lignin, or BMP (Bookter and Ham, 1982;Jones et al, 1983;Attal et al, 1992;Ham et al, 1993;Wang et al, 1994;Townsend et al, 1996;Chen et al, 2004;Ö stman et al, 2006) and even fewer studies (Ettala et al, 1988;Ham et al, 1993;Ö stman et al, 2006) on landfill nitrogen content. These earlier studies showed MSW landfills to be heterogeneous with respect to the stages of degradation and conditions within the landfill body with wastes in the top layers usually less degraded than in the deeper layers.…”

Effect of Cellulose/Hemicellulose and Lignin on the Bioavailability of Toluene Sorbed to Waste Paper

“…There are two potential explanations for the lower Kp value describing toluene sorption to DNP-lignin relative to NPlignin (Table 2). First, although lignin biodegradation is extremely slow under anaerobic conditions, some microbially mediated lignin transformation may have occurred (34,35), and the resulting lignin product may have exhibited a lower toluene sorption capacity. However, analysis of NP-lignin and DNP-lignin by NMR showed no structural differences (data not shown), and tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) chemolysis GC/MS data for NP and DNP provided no evidence that the propyl side chain of lignin was oxidized during the production of DNP (35).…”