Environmental Research and Education Foundation (EREF) training

The purpose of this introductory course on landfill economics is to provide an overview of the major principles associated with full cost accounting. The course addresses the basic components of landfill costs, including site development, permitting, labor, equipment, and materials, and other items such as capital expenditures, accruals, and depreciation. The course also addresses accounting approaches, landfill revenue generation and the major factors influencing landfill economics.

The major biodegradable components of municipal solid waste include paper, food waste and yard waste. All of these materials contain cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, with cellulose and hemicellulose responsible for most of the methane produced in landfills. When these wastes are buried in landfills, a complex series of chemical and biological reactions is initiated. The end products of anaerobic biological decomposition in landfills are methane and carbon dioxide. This course will describe the microbial decomposition process in a landfill and relate it to gas production and leachate quality. This foundation will then be used to describe the LandGEM model and ways in which it can be adjusted to consider the effects of waste composition and gas collection efficiency.

Stormwater is a leading source of water pollution and consequently, EPA has set effluent standards under the national pollution discharge elimination system (NPDES).  Stormwater discharges from solid waste facilities must be permitted because their operations are subject to the discharge requirements for industrial facilities.  They must also comply with construction site requirements during facility development.