Description:
This session will discuss the role landfills play in managing municipal solid waste (MSW), releasing emerging contaminants, and recovering resources, with a focus on critical data challenges. Data challenges with landfills are driven by a multitude of factors. While some nationwide databases track landfills, they do not include all landfills. Moreover, data remains highly heterogeneous due to the highly disparate waste streams that enter them. Waste streams vary with time and upstream waste diversion protocols, leaving them as a black box with largely uncharacterized physics, chemistry, and biology. Landfills are dynamic operational environments, which can affect emerging contaminants (e.g. PFASs) release, treatment efficiencies, and resource recoveries (e.g. methane, precious metals, etc). New technologies are emerging to measure fugitive methane emissions from landfills, but interpreting between the results from different technologies can be complex. Data gathering is further complicated by the fact that each landfill owner and operator has different data systems and practices. Challenges exist in managing the data, as reporting guidelines vary widely between states, the data can have low interoperability, and data quality varies. Mitigating challenges related to landfill data will also critically improve life cycle assessments. This session seeks speakers that will further discuss these data challenges and the resulting impacts on public policy and health
Organizers:
Caitlin Proctor, Amisha Shah, Inez Hua, Lindsay Soh, Ngaiyin Yip
