Author(s)

M. ZAMORANO, E. GARRIDO, B. MORENO, A. PAOLINI & A. RAMOS

Abstract

In Europe, a Council Directive passed in 1999 provided for the regulation of waste disposal in landfills. This was a specific piece of legislation aimed at environmental control of new and currently operational installations. As a result, it has become necessary to adapt currently operational release points to make them compatible with the new legislation. This new situation has obliged the different environmental organisations to carry out a stocktaking of release points in order to draw up a conditioning plan or a closing plan in accordance with the directive. The present study describes a new methodology by which environmental diagnosis of landfill sites may be carried out, involving the formulation of environmental indexes that give information about the potential environmental problems of currently operational landfills. The indexes provide information related to the location, design and operation in order to help draw up action plans for the conditioning or closure of the landfill site and to prioritise the order of actions required.

Keywords

environmental impact, environmental indexes, landfill, pollution, waste management.