Poverty and unemployment in the rural areas of the Eastern Cape is forcing thousands of vulnerable people into waste picking. There is growing recognition that waste re-claimers contribute to the local economy, to public health and to environmental sustainability. However, they often face low social status, tragic living and working conditions, and little support from local governments. The waste reclaimers of the Raymond Mhlaba Municipal area are unemployed, experiencing a poorer quality of life and feeling even more socially and economically excluded from the rest of society because of the “limitations” on landfill salvaging currently. Moreover, they have developed feelings of resentment and anger that have resulted in defiant acts of trespassing and theft. This social development study highlights the implications of landfill closure for waste salvagers in Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality. Landfilling has been the main method for municipal waste disposal in Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality. To combat the effects of uncontrolled release of landfill gases, the uncontrolled release of leachate that may affect water quality many landfills in the Eastern Cape are being considered for close down and for rehabilitation. To consider as well is the socio-economic backlog and anticipated population growth in the province, which means that landfill salvaging will continue to be an important source of revenue for the poor and homeless. This research used observation, semi-structured one-on-one interviewing, focus group interviewing and questionnaires as well as conducted a review of waste management policy-related documents and secondary data analysis in this qualitative research to analyse the social and the economic impacts. The research found that waste reclaimers in the Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality area disagreed with the closure of the Fort Beaufort landfill because of what the researcher assumed to be a lack of general environmental awareness and because of their vulnerability to poverty. Research findings also highlight that waste reclamation can be considered as a viable option to minimize waste at landfills and waste reclaimers have shown an increasing interest and commitment to being trained formally to continue reclamation work. This study has suggested disadvantages in rural landfill closure, without feasible alternatives. Focus must move away from extending waste collection and closing down landfills and instead improve final disposal and initiating minimisation- recycling programs as part of their strategies through the formation of waste cooperatives. This research suggests formalizing and controlling waste recovery to cater for the immediate and most basic needs of the poor. The recommendations will hopefully influence thinking about waste management policy planning and implementation in general, and be of service to furthering Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality achieve goals of sustainable employment creation and poverty alleviation.

M.Sc. / The location of a solid waste landfill site is not only determined by the need of the local population of an area but also by minimum requirements imposed by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry. These minimum requirements act as a method of environmental protection against pollution caused by landfill sites. The objective of this study is to explore the utilization of a geographical information system as an aid in selecting the best possible location for a new solid waste dumping site. It is possible to determine the most appropriate location for such a new waste dumping site by using the minimum requirements set forward by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry as guidelines in the site selection process. The minimum requirements can be used to eliminate all those places that do not meet the necessary requirements. The remaining areas can all be considered as potential sites and must be investigated personally by the people responsible, in the local government. A need for a regional solid waste landfill site in the area of Howick, Hilton and Mpopomeni in the KwaZulu/Natal Midlands was identified and used as the basis for this study.

This thesis presents the development of a numerical model for one-dimensional pollutant transport in a porous medium. A computer program POLUTE1D has been developed. The numerical model is based on the flow and mass transport equations and the finite element method has been used for its formulation. The problem involves unsaturated flow and convective dispersive transport of a contaminant species. A literature survey on the evaluation of the dispersion coefficient is included. A waste disposal dump site is analysed as a one-dimensional problem by using this model. The effect of the liner thickness, the liner permeability, the ponding head and the initial condition of the porous domain on the spread of the contaminant is studied. Conclusions are presented based on a parametric study. / M. Eng.

published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

Abstract not available

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning and Design / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

Closed landfills possess vast open space which could only be lightly developed due to environmental concerns. Renewable energy production is one of the few beneficial and viable uses. This paper presents a study on the feasibility of converting Hong Kong’s restored strategic landfill into a clean energy facility. South East New Territories (SENT) landfill has been chosen for study due to its impending closure, its proximity to energy demands and expected restored area at approximately 60 ha. Given the location constraints, photovoltaic (PV) solar farm was found to be the most viable technological option among all available renewable energy choices. A review of literature has revealed that there are overseas examples of using ex-landfill sites for PV solar farms in the developed countries including the US, Germany, France, Italy and Korea. Different PV systems have been explored, with C-Si, CdTe, A-Si and CIGS PV panels being shortlisted for further investigation. The site characteristics have also been studied and solar resource was found to be adequate. The renewable energy production from abovementioned options has been estimated to be 81.9, 61.9, 44.3 and 68.8 million kWh respectively. The environmental performance of the hypothetical landfill based PV systems were evaluated through a life-cycle assessment. C-Si PV system has a longer payback period in terms of energy and CO2 emission. However, it outperforms the other PV options in terms of overall environmental performance over the entire life cycle. Given the long product life of PV panels, other elements including transportation, electricity system, invertors and mounting was found to be of little impact to the life cycle performance of a PV installation. The cost estimation indicates that the monetary payback period would be longer than the lifetime of all installation options. Hence, from an economic point of view, breaking even is unlikely. The findings from this study are expected to provide a preliminary concept to policy makers and environmental managers, shedding light on the implications of an alternative beneficial use of Hong Kong’s vast yet closing strategic landfills. / published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

Landfill leachate treatment in South Africa is still in its early stages; research has been conducted but primarily at pilot scale level. Current legislation in South Africa does not prohibit the discharge of landfill leachate into the sewer line, despite the high risk of methane explosions and corrosion of the sewer pipes. Thus, to date, the off site channelling of landfill leachate into the sewer lines for further dilution in municipal wastewater treatment plants is the most common practice. Due to the development of stricter environmental regulations, the design of sustainable landfills is leading to the 'treatment at source' concept. Increasing public pressure is also forcing new landfills to be situated in remote areas where there is no avaliable sewer line to discharge into and 'treatment at source' will be required. Due to these developments, coupled with the lack of full scale leachate treatment experience in South Africa, Durban Solid Waste (The waste service unit of the Durban metropolitan), in an attempt to develop the knowledge and practical experience required for leachate treatment, undertook a research project to investigate the use of nitrification/denitrification pilot scale sequencing batch reactors (SBR) to treat leachate from the Bisasar Road and Mariannhill Landfills. The successful completion of the trials proved that the full removal of nitrogen compounds could be easily achieved, under South African climatic conditions, in a single sludge SBR system. The system was found to be simple to operate and required low maintenance. However, the final effluent required further treatment before it could meet the general discharge standards into natural watercourses. Being South Africa, a 'low gross income' country, it became necessary to consider an appropriate, cost effective and technically feasible 'polishing' treatment system. It was decided that a pilot scale treatment trial, using vegetated submerged bed constructed wetlands, be undertaken to assess the applicability and feasibility of such a passive system for the 'polishing' of the effluent from the pilot scale sequencing batch reactors. The wetland systems were found to be affected by many interrelating climatic factors. The trials concluded that the wetlands could not achieve the required discharge standards, in terms of concentration. However, it also showed that the effluent organics posed no oxygen demand or toxic threat to a receiving environment. The trials showed the ability of the wetlands to behave as mass removal systems, which could achieve the required mass removal efficiency in terms of mass output per day. / Thesis (M.Sc.Eng.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.

Reported research has suggested that poor persons and/or minorities are disproportionately exposed to environmental hazards such as incinerators, landfills, pesticides, and poor air quality. One accepted form of an environmental hazard is a waste management facility. This present research examined the variables minority percentage and median household income of the population surrounding each waste management facility under scrutiny within Lake County, Indiana. The two variables were each correlated with distance from the center of each waste management facility (as determined through a geographic information system) to a distance of three kilometers. The materials and methods used in this particular research provided for a more precise analysis of such correlations than has typified most of the earlier studies. Three significant correlations were found. First, the Gary landfill rendered a positive relationship between distance from the center of the site and increased income. Second, the Munster landfill revealed a negative relationship between distance to the center of the site and increased minority percentage of the population. Lastly, the Munster landfill also had a negative relationship between income and distance from the center of the landfill. Data showed that the large proportion of minority households surrounding the Munster landfill earned an income that would easily allow for social mobility. Such social mobility, arguably, allows a household to move away from an environmental hazard. It was concluded that no support for a claim of environmental racism could be found. Further, a call for a re-examination of the definition of environmental racism is made based upon the large number of wealthy minorities residing around the Munster landfill. / Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 70-74).