Abstract
Sanitary landfilling is the major method of disposal of municipal solid waste (MSW) in developing countries. The disposal of MSW in landfills generates a large amount of highly toxic leachate, which has high potential hazards for the public, flora, fauna health and ecosystems. Advanced leachate treatment systems using biological and chemical treatment methods are recently implemented in developed countries, but high investment and operating costs restricted their application in most of the developing countries. To overcome this problem, an alternative sustainable treatment technology such as phytoremediation could be beneficial. The constructed wetland treatment system is an economical alternative for leachate treatment using local resources and is an energy-efficient technology. These green systems utilize anaerobic and aerobic reactions to break down, immobilize, or incorporate organic substances and other contaminants from polluted effluent. This chapter highlights the recent advances in the treatment of landfill leachates using constructed wetlands.
TopMunicipal Solid Waste (Msw) Generation In India
A swift increase in the quantity of MSW generated has been observed due to increasingly affluent lifestyles, and growth of industrial and commercial sectors. However, the MSW generation rate depends upon the economic development, lifestyle, climate, and urbanization of a nation. In India, handling of MSW is governed by Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2000 (Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change) which are further revised in 2016. In India, 90% of the total generated MSW is dumped in open landfills (Thakur et al., 2020). The urban people in India have significantly amplified from 1960 to 2011 as shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Expansion of urbanization in India (Adopted and modified from Thakur et al., 2020)
Key Terms in this Chapter
Phytoremediation: Phytoremediation is a bioremediation process that uses various types of plants to remove, transfer, stabilize, and/or destroy contaminants in the different types of environments such as soil, water, and air.
Leachate: A leachate is any liquid that, in the course of passing through matter, extracts soluble or suspended solids, or any other component of the material through which it has passed.
Biochemical Oxygen Demand: Biochemical oxygen demand is the amount of dissolved oxygen needed (i.e., demanded) by aerobic biological organisms to break down organic material present in a given water sample at certain temperature over a specific time period.
Constructed Wetland: A constructed wetland is an engineered wetland which encompasses natural processes such as sedimentation, filtration, etc. to treat different types of wastewaters.
Chemical Oxygen Demand: Chemical oxygen demand is a measure of the capacity of water to consume oxygen during the decomposition of organic matter and the oxidation of inorganic chemicals such as Ammonia and nitrite.
Municipal Solid Waste: Municipal solid waste is a waste type consisting of everyday items that are discarded by the public.
Landfill: A landfill site (also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground) is a site for the disposal of waste materials.