Achilleas Papadopoulos

A study on the landfill leachate and its impact on the groundwater quality of the greater area

Characterisation of the leachate originating from the Ano Liosia landfill (situated in Attica region, Greece) as well as assessment on the quality of the local aquifer were carried out. The experimental results showed that most of the parameters examined in the leachate samples such as colour, conductivity, TS, COD, NH3–N, PO4–P, SO42−, Cl−, K+, Fe and Pb were found in high levels. The organic load was quite high since the COD concentrations were in the range of 3250–6125 mg L−1. In addition, the low BOD/COD ratio (0.096–0.195), confirmed that the majority of this organic matter is not easily biodegradable. The groundwater near the landfill site was characterised as not potable and not suitable for irrigation water, since most of the physical and chemical parameters examined – such as colour, conductivity, DS, hardness, Cl−, NH3–N, COD, K+, Na+, Ca2+, Fe, Ni and Pb exceeded the permissible limits given by EE, EPA and the Greek Ministry of Agriculture. Furthermore, this study presents the application of the hydrologic evaluation of landfill performance (HELP) model for the determination of the yearly leakage from the base of the landfill after the final capping.

Generation and management of construction and demolition waste in Greece—an existing challenge

In Greece, the construction industry has been developing rapidly over the past decades and the Olympic Games that, will be held in Athens in 2004 have made this development even more intense. The stream of construction and demolition (C&D) waste must be dealt with special attention because of the shortage of landfill space for disposal and the various dangerous substances contained in it, which, can potentially affect the environment and human life if not managed properly. The working group of the NTUA was provided with a grant by Eurostat in order to collect data and illustrate the current status in the country in regards to C&D waste. This paper presents the results of the study and analyses the generation sources, the estimated quantities of C&D waste as well as the current waste management practices in Greece. Recommendations are made in order to deal with this problem effectively and promote sustainable waste management solutions such as reuse and recycling.

MULTI-CRITERIA ANALYSIS FOR THE DETERMINATION OF THE BEST WEEE MANAGEMENT SCENARIO IN CYPRUS

Waste from electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) constitutes one of the most complicated solid waste streams in terms of its composition, and, as a result, it is difficult to be effectively managed. In view of the environmental problems derived from WEEE management, many countries have established national legislation to improve the reuse, recycling and other forms of recovery of this waste stream so as to apply suitable management schemes. In this work, alternative systems are examined for the WEEE management in Cyprus. These systems are evaluated by developing and applying the Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) method PROMETHEE. In particular, through this MCDM method, 12 alternative management systems were compared and ranked according to their performance and efficiency. The obtained results show that the management schemes/systems based on partial disassembly are the most suitable for implementation in Cyprus. More specifically, the optimum scenario/system that can be implemented in Cyprus is that of partial disassembly and forwarding of recyclable materials to the native existing market and disposal of the residues at landfill sites.

Preliminary study for the management of construction and demolition waste

This paper refers to the management of the construction and demolition (C&D) waste since, according to the EU Waste Strategy, C&D waste is considered to be one of the priority waste streams and appropriate actions need to be taken with respect to its effective management. Initially, the paper presents the state-of-the-art of the problem of C&D waste, including the amount and composition of C&D waste in EU countries, differences in the characteristics of this waste stream depending on its origin, as well as collection and management practices that are applied. A methodology is described for the estimation of the quantities of the waste stream under examination, since in most cases quantitative primary data is not available. Next, the fundamentals for the development of an integrated scheme for the management of C&D waste are presented and discussed, such as appropriate demolition procedures and location of waste management (off-site waste management, on-site waste management, direct on-site recovery, centralized on-site recovery). Finally, taking into consideration all relevant parameters, alternative systems that could be applied for the management of the C&D waste are suggested.

An integrated approach for the management of demolition waste in Cyprus

This study investigated the generation and management of demolition waste (DW) in Cyprus. A methodology has been developed and applied for the estimation of the quantities of the waste stream under examination, since quantitative primary data were not available. The existing situation relating to the practices applied for the management of DW was investigated and assessed. Furthermore, a multi-criteria analysis method (PROMETHEE II) was developed and applied in order to examine alternative systems that could be implemented for the management of the DW in the country. In particular, nine management systems (scenarios) were examined, evaluated and ranked according to their efficiency using seventeen individual criteria, divided into four groups (social—legislative, environmental, economic and technical). The ranking of the alternative waste management scenarios indicated that the optimum management system for possible implementation in the island included complete selective demolition procedures and transfer of mixed recyclable materials to the recycling centre and non-recyclable material to landfill.

Performance of a new household composter during in-home testing

This article presents the methodology and the results of the performance testing of a prototype system for the production of high quality compost from biodegradable household waste separated at the source. Selected households in three municipalities of the Attica Region in Greece constituted the users of the home composter. The results indicated the effective operational performance of the prototype household composter in practice (use of the system by the householders on a daily basis), as well as the high level of response of the householders in adopting the composting practice in their daily activities as common practice. The compost that was produced in the households was characterized by high quality, which is in accordance with the quality standards that are set for its use. In only a few cases (in the first cycle of the pilot implementation) the quality of the compost was not high due to the fact that some householders were not yet familiar with the use of the composter, but these operational problems were solved and the compost that was later produced was considered high quality.

Treatment of stabilized landfill leachate by physico‐chemical and bio‐oxidation processes

Abstract In this work the treatment of leachate originating from an old landfill was compared using a variety of methods both singularly and in combination. Aerobic biological treatment gave a COD removal ranging from 32–35%, but it was very effective for BOD and ammonia removal (97% and 99%, respectively). By using chemical oxidation a COD reduction up to 33% was achieved. The application of chemical precipitation gave a COD removal in the range of 36–42%. The combination of biological and chemical oxidation, biological oxidation and chemical precipitation or chemical oxidation and chemical precipitation, led to a COD reduction up to 57%. The best results were obtained when a biological oxidation was applied in two stages combination with chemical oxidation and chemical precipitation reducing COD concentration values up to 87%.

Leachate quality of a MSW landfill

Abstract Landfill leachate originating from a major landfill site of Greece was analyzed and changes in its quality over a period of time was investigated. The results show that the leachate contained high inorganic as well as organic polluting load. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) ranged between 3812–6489 mg/l. The organic load was not easily biodegradable and the 5‐d biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) / COD ratio was less than 0.2. The high chloride concentrations constitute a serious threat for the aquifer of the area located at Ano Liosia near Athens. Ammonia was found in high concentrations (1350 mg/l).

Cement-based stabilization/solidification of metal plating industry sludge.

This study examines the cement-based Stabilization/Solidification (S/S) technique of sludge produced from a metal plating industry. The sludge samples were characterized in terms of pH and heavy metal content (Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb and Zn). The leachability of the sludge was estimated using the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP). Two binder mixtures were used for the S/S process, fly ash/cement and zeolite/cement. The weight ratio of the binder mixtures was optimized to achieve the highest strength.The optimum ratio binder mixtures was mixed with sludge samples of different weight ratios and cured for 28 days in order to find the S/S products with the highest strength and the lowest leachability.

An Alternative Method for the Treatment of Waste Produced at a Dye and a Metal-Plating Industry Using Natural and/or Waste Materials

The aim of this study was to develop cost-effective, appropriate solidification technologies for treating hazardous industrial wastes that are currently disposed of in ways that may threaten the quality of local groundwater. One major objective was to use materials other than cement, and preferably materials that are themselves wastes, as the solidification additives, namely using wastes to treat wastes or locally available natural material. This research examines the cement-based and lime-based stabilization/solidification (S/S) techniques applied for waste generated at a metal-plating industry and a dye industry. For the lime-based S/S process the following binder mixtures were used: cement kiln dust/lime, bentonite/lime and gypsum/lime. For the cement-based S/S process three binder mixtures were used: cement kiln dust/cement, bentonite/cement and gypsum/cement. The leachability of the wastes was evaluated using the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure. The applicability and optimum weight ratio of the binder mixtures were estimated using the unconfined compressive strength test. The optimum ratio mixtures were mixed with waste samples in different ratios and cured for 28 days in order to find the S/S products with the highest strength and lowest leachability at the same time. The results of this work showed that the cement- and lime-based S/S process, using cement kiln dust and bentonite as additives can be effectively used in order to treat industrial waste.