Juris Burlakovs

Field-portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry as rapid measurement tool for landfill mining operations: comparison of field data vs. laboratory analysis

Landfill mining applied in reclamation at the territories of old dump sites and landfills is a known approach tended to global economic and environmental benefits as recovery of metals and energy is an important challenge. The aim of this study was to analyse the concentration of several metallic elements (Ca, Cu, Cr, Fe, K, Mn, Pb, Zn) in the fine fraction of waste derived in the landfill and to compare the results of measurements obtained by field-portable equipment with the data gained by advanced analytical tools. Atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) were used for the quantitative detection of metallic elements at the laboratory; whereas field-portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (FPXRF) was applied for rapid sample characterisation in the field (on-site). Wet digestion of samples (fine fraction of waste at landfill) was done prior analytical procedures at the laboratory conditions, but FPXRF analysis was performed using raw solid samples of waste fine fraction derived in the Kudjape Landfill in Estonia. Although the use of AAS and ICP-MS for the measurements of metals achieves more precise results, it was concluded that precision and accuracy of the measurements obtained by FPXRF is acceptable for fast approximate evaluation of quantities of metallic elements in fine fraction samples excavated from the waste at landfills. Precision and accuracy of the results provided by express method is acceptable for quick analysis or screening of the concentration of major and trace metallic elements in field projects; however, data correction can be applied by calculating moisture and organic matter content dependent on sample matrix as well as special attention must be paid on sample selection and homogenisation and number of analysed samples.

Paradigms on landfill mining: From dump site scavenging to ecosystem services revitalization

Abstract For the next century to come, one of the biggest challenges is to provide the mankind with relevant and sufficient resources. Recovery of secondary resources plays a significant role. Industrial processes developed to regain minerals for commodity production in a circular economy become ever more important in the European Union and worldwide. Landfill mining (LFM) constitutes an important technological toolset of processes that regain resources and redistribute them with an accompanying reduction of hazardous influence of environmental contamination and other threats for human health hidden in former dump sites and landfills. This review paper is devoted to LFM problems, historical development and driving paradigms of LFM from ‘classical hunting for valuables’ to ‘perspective in ecosystem revitalization’. The main goal is to provide a description of historical experience and link it to more advanced concept of a circular economy. The challenge is to adapt the existing knowledge to make decisions in accordance with both, economic feasibility and ecosystems revitalization aspects.

The Cost-estimation of Mechanical Pre-treatment Lines of Municipal Solid Waste in Latvia

Abstract Production of refuse derived fuel from municipal solid waste in future shall play a strategic role in an integrated waste management system. The amount of landfilled biodegradable materials thus will be diminished according to provisions of the 1999 Waste Landfill Directive. The aim of this article is to evaluate cost effectiveness based on cost evaluation of the different complication of the waste pre-treatment equipment complectation and based on regenerable waste quantities in Latvia. The comparison of cost estimates is done in 3 scenarios considering potential waste quantities in Latvia: Scenario I - planned annual waste quantity is 20 kT; Scenario II - 40 kT and Scenario III - 160 kT. An increase in amount of waste and processing capacity means the decrease in costs of mechanical pre-treatment of 1 ton of waste. Thus, costs of mechanical sorting line under different scenarios with capacities of 10 t h-1, 20 t h-1 and 80 t h-1 are EUR 32 per t, EUR 24 per t and EUR 15 per t, respectively. Most feasible cost for a set of mechanical pre-treatment equipment for the capacity of 10 t h-1 is EUR 32 per t by using rotating drum screener with the following manual sorting. Mechanical pre-treatment equipment of unsorted municipal waste is economically nonbeneficial, when the use of fine (biologically degradable) fraction is not possible. As the sorting of biodegradable kitchen waste is not developed under the current waste management system in Latvia, the lines for mechanical pre-treatment of household waste would be better to install in landfills.

Hunting for valuables from landfills and assessing their market opportunities : A case study with Kudjape landfill in Estonia

Landfill mining is an alternative technology that merges the ideas of material recycling and sustainable waste management. This paper reports a case study to estimate the value of landfilled materials and their respective market opportunities, based on a full-scale landfill mining project in Estonia. During the project, a dump site (Kudjape, Estonia) was excavated with the main objectives of extracting soil-like final cover material with the function of methane degradation. In total, about 57,777 m3 of waste was processed, particularly the uppermost 10-year layer of waste. Manual sorting was performed in four test pits to determine the detailed composition of wastes. 11,610 kg of waste was screened on site, resulting in fine (<40 mm) and coarse (>40 mm) fractions with the share of 54% and 46%, respectively. Some portion of the fine fraction was sieved further to obtain a very fine grained fraction of <10 mm and analyzed for its potential for metals recovery. The average chemical composition of the <10 mm soil-like fraction suggests that it offers opportunities for metal (Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn) extraction and recovery. The findings from this study highlight the importance of implementing best available site-specific technologies for on-site separation up to 10 mm grain size, and the importance of developing and implementing innovative extraction methods for materials recovery from soil-like fractions.

Former dump sites and the landfill mining perspectives in baltic countries and Sweden : The status

Landfills are considered as places where the life cycle of products ends thus meaning that resources and materials, which before were valuables, become useless and are disposed forever in places aw ...

Heavy metal remediation technologies in Latvia: possible applications and preliminary case study results / Technologie remediacji obszarów zanieczyszczonych metalami ciężkimi na Łotwie: możliwe zastosowania i wstępne wyniki badań

Abstract Environmental contamination with heavy metals as a result of anthropogenic activities is not a recent phenomenon. Contaminated sites with heavy metals can be found in functioning as well as abandoned industrial (brownfield) territories, landfills, residential areas with historical contamination, road sides and rarely in polluted sites by natural activities. Pollution data on its amount and concentrations is known from historical studies and monitoring nowadays, but it should be periodically updated for the use of territorial planning or in case of a change of the land use. A special attention should be paid to heavy metal contamination, because in many cases this contamination is most problematic for remediation. 242 territories now are numbered as contaminated and fixed in the National Register of contaminated territories - at least 56 of them are known as contaminated with heavy metals in different amount and concentration. Legislative aspects are discussed as well as an overview of soil and groundwater contamination research and the possible remediation technologies in Latvia are given. Two case studies are described in order to give the inside look in pre-investigations done before potential start of heavy metal remediation works. Abstrakt Zanieczyszczenie środowiska metalami ciężkimi, w wyniku działalności człowieka, nie jest nowym zjawiskiem. Miejsca skażone metalami ciężkimi można znaleźć na wielu obszarach, m.in. na terenach poprzemysłowych, składowiskach odpadów, obszarach mieszkalnych, poboczach dróg, rzadziej zanieczyszczenia pojawiają się w sposób naturalny. Poziom zanieczyszczeń można ocenić na podstawie źródeł historycznych, a także na podstawie współczesnych badań. Informacje o zanieczyszczeniach powinny być okresowo aktualizowane na użytek planowania przestrzennego lub w przypadku zmian sposobów zagospodarowania. Szczególną uwagę należy zwrócić na zanieczyszczenia metalami ciężkimi, ponieważ w wielu przypadkach właśnie ten rodzaj zanieczyszczeń jest najtrudniejszy w remediacji. Obecnie wymienia się 242 obszary skażone, wpisane do Krajowego Rejestru Skażonych Obszarów - co najmniej 56 z nich to obszary skażone różnymi ilościami metali ciężkimi, występujących w różnych stężeniach. Przedyskutowano aspekty prawne, a także wyniki badań zanieczyszczenia metalami ciężkimi gleby i wód gruntowych na Łotwie oraz omówiono ewentualne technologie remediacji. Opisano dwa przykłady wstępnych wyników badań, poprzedzających remediację metali ciężkich.

Possible Applications of Soil Remediation Technologies in Latvia

Possible Applications of Soil Remediation Technologies in Latvia Increasing public concern about deleterious effects of contamination on the environment and human health has led to legislative actions aimed at controlling and regulating the emission of potential contaminants into the environment, but there is still a plethora of territories historically contaminated with different contaminants within the territory of Latvia. The purpose of the present study is to give an overview of the formerly and presently contaminated areas and give some recommendations for remediation. 242 first category contaminated territories (the contamination exceeds the acceptable normative 10 times or more) are mentioned in the National Register of Contaminated Territories, a lot of them are known as contaminated with hazardous contaminants such as heavy metals, oil products, organic compounds and other contaminants in different amounts and concentrations. An overview of soil contamination in Latvia is provided, the planned and recommended research, as well as the planned remediation in pilot case studies, are described, giving a review of the historical contamination situation and of applications of the planned remediation technologies. Grunts sanācijas tehnologijas un pielietojuma iespējas Latvijā Vides piesārņojumam un tā ietekmei uz cilvēka veselību mūsdienās ir aizvien lielāka nozīme, tādēļ arī Latvijas Republikā ir izveidota normatīvā bāze piesārņojošo vielu emisiju vidē samazināšanai, taču joprojām pastāv liels skaits teritoriju, kurās konstatēts augsts vēsturiskā piesārņojuma līmenis. Rakstā sniegts Latvijas piesārņoto vietu apskats, kā arī doti ieteikumi sanācijas darbu veikšanai šajās teritorijās. Latvijā ir 242 piesārņotās vietas atbilstoši 1. kategorijai (piesārņojuma līmenis pārsniedz pieļaujamās robežvērtības 10 un vairāk reizes), kas iekļautas Piesārņoto un potenciāli piesārņoto vietu registrā. Daudzas no šīm teritorijām ir stipri piesārņotas ar bīstamām vielām - smagajiem metāliem, naftas produktiem, organiskajiem savienojumiem, kā arī citām piesārņojošām vielām un elementiem. Pirms atbilstošu metožu izvēles ir jāveic pētījumi, kas ietvertu esošas rūpnieciskās vai bijušās militārās teritorijas vides pirmsizpēti piesārņojuma veida, daudzuma un koncentrācijas noteikšanai, lai varētu izvērtēt sanācijas darbu nepieciešamību un izvēlēties piemērotāko un efektīvāko tehnologiju. Pētījumu rezultātā, izvērtējot situāciju, tiek izvēlēta zinātniski un ekonomiski pamatota tehnologija jeb to komplekss, kas ļautu veikt efektīvus sanācijas darbus. Visbiežāk grunts un gruntsūdens piesārņojums ir jāvērtē kompleksi. Rakstā ir apskatīti dažādi potenciālie sanācijas tehnologiskie risinājumi, kas būtu pielietojami Latvijā, kā arī dotas rekomendācijas konkrētu tehnologiju izmantošanai noteiktās teritorijās ar nozīmīgāko vēsturiskā piesārņojuma līmeni. Возможное использование технологий очистки загрязненных грунтов Латвии Загрязнение окружающей среды и его влияние на здоровье человека сегодня имеет все большее значение, поэтому в Латвии разработана нормативно- правовая база для уменьшения выбросов загрязняющих веществ в окружающую среду, но все-таки до сих пор имеется большое количество мест с высоким уровнем исторического загрязнения. Статья содержит обзор загрязненных участков Латвии, а также дает рекомендации для проведения очистных работ в этих местах. В Латвии имеются 242 загрязненные территории первой категории (уровень загрязнения превышает допустимые нормы в 10 и более раз), которые входят в Регистр загрязненных и потенциально загрязненных мест. Многие из них значительно загрязнены опасными веществами - тяжелыми металлами, нефтепродуктами, органическими соединениями, а также другими веществами. Перед выбором соответствующих технологий очистки должны провестись исследования, которые включают технически-экономическое обоснование ведения работ и заключение об объемах и концентрациях загрязняющих веществ. Это позволяет обеспечить эффективные результаты в проектах очистки загрязненных грунтов и грунтовых вод, что должно рассматриваться комплексно. В статье рассматриваются различные технологические решения, которые были бы применимы в очистке загрязненных территорий Латвии, а также даются рекомендации по использованию определенных технологий в участках с наиболее значительным уровнем исторического загрязнения.

Energy efficiency and behavioral patterns in Latvia

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to raise awareness on different aspects that interconnect energy efficiency projects and human behavioral aspects. Perception of energy, as the physical phenomenon, inevitably should be taken into consideration within elaboration of governmental strategies and performing of energy efficiency projects. Design/methodology/approach Quantitative and qualitative data as well as legislation analysis were performed to link consumer behavioral and the duality of perception of energy aspects while performing insulation projects in Latvia. The results confirm prior findings that link together the energy consumption trends and consumer behavioral and rebound effects. The problems are stated clear: society in general is not ready to invest into energy efficiency maintenance, information on energy efficiency projects is weakly disseminated, and lack of proper information on positive aspects about energy saving projects has negative feedback on public opinion and sustainable education in the topic suffers in this case. Findings As the response for solving these issues recommendations are proposed new strategies should be elaborated to perform effective and innovative marketing for promoting positively oriented trends on energy saving issues and behavioral changes in society; and awareness on energy efficiency projects should be raised to show positive examples from successful ones for the good of sustainable education. Originality/value Such type of study about consumer behavior have not been performed in country that is on transition stage for developing the energy-efficient societal thinking.

Leaching of Contamination from Stabilization/Solidification Remediated Soils of Different Texture

Abstract Development of soil and groundwater remediation technologies is a matter of great importance to eliminate historically and currently contaminated sites. Stabilization/solidification (S/S) refers to binding of waste contaminants to a more chemically stable form and thus diminishing leaching of contamination. It can be performed using cement with or without additives in order to stabilize and solidify soil with the contamination in matrix. A series of experiments were done to determine leaching properties of spiked soils of different texture bound with cement. Results of experiments showed, that soil texture (content of sand, silt and clay particles) affects the leaching of heavy metals from stabilized soils.

Properties of the Jurassic Clayey Deposits of Southwestern Latvia and Northern Lithuania

Abstract Jurassic clay rich in organic matter from western Latvia is known already from early 19th century. Jurassic clays provide an interest because of high potential for innovative use due to its clay mineral composition jointly with organic material. Properties of the Jurassic clayey deposits were studied by using various physical and chemical methods. Material gained from field was tested by modern techniques such as UV-Vis, 3D fluorescence and FTIR - spectra, which show patterns of organic compounds in the clay material. AAS analyses characterized inorganic content. PXRD studies raised discussions about the origin of kaolin, illite and smectite and interactions among these clay minerals. Obtained results show that Jurassic clays with organic matter have future potential for possible use in cosmetic industry and as a sorbent material. Pētījumā gūtie rezultāti sniedz ziņas par Juras perioda mālaino nogulumu īpašībām, un palīdz salīdzināt šī perspektīvā derīgā izrakteņa īpašības. Juras sistēmas Kelovejas un Oksfordas stāvu nogulumi atrodami urbumu serdēs, atradnēs, kā arī pleistocēna ledāja atrauteņos jeb glasiodislokācijās. Līdz šim plašāki pētījumi notikuši Polijā un Lietuvā, salīdzinoši mazāk informācijas apkopots par Latvijas Juras māliem un to raksturojošām īpašībām. Šī pētījuma ietvaros paraugi tika ievākti Zoslēnu, Papiles un Lēģernieku atradnēs; to galvenās atšķirības saistās ar mālu frakcijas īpatsvaru salīdzinājumā ar pārējo nogulumu materiālu. Juras mālaino nogulumu sastāva īpatnības raksturotas, izmantojot granulometriskās analīzes, karsējuma zudumu, rentgendifraktometrisko un atomabsorbciometrijas metožu kompleksu; detalizēti pētīti arī nogulumu sastāvā esošie organiskie savienojumi, izmantojot UV-Vis un 3-D fluorescenci. Mālu sastāvā esošās organiskās vielas pamatā ir humusvielas, savukārt māla frakcijas neorganisko materiālu veido smektīts, illīts, kaolinīts un hlorīts aptuveni līdzīgās proporcijās, ko pierāda rentgendifraktometriskā izpēte. Agrākie pētījumi Polijā un Lietuvā liecina, ka dabiskās organiskās vielas, kas atrodamas Juras mālos, atspoguļo nogulumu veidošanās apstākļus. Juras māli var tikt izmantoti tālākos praktiskā pielietojuma pētījumos, kā arī, lai precīzāk raksturotu attiecīgā perioda paleoģeogrāfiskos apstākļus.