Behavior of Rejects from a Biological-Mechanical Treatment Plant on the Landfill to Laboratory Scale

Abstract

This paper describes the laboratory-scale simulation of the behaviour of rejects from a biological-mechanical treatment (BMT) plant in Castellón (Spain). For this purpose, four lysimeters were built, with different densities. Simulations were carried out for 7 weeks and leachate recirculation was applied to two of them. The experimental results allowed us to determine: (i) dirt in fractions, which was relatively high (up to 15% in some fractions) due to biological processes; (ii) the field capacity for this waste with similar values to other works, which varied depending on the experiment; (iii) variation in the biomass percentage which lowered after experiments in all cases (59.5% lower on average), and the rejects’ calorific value was higher after experiments (28.2% on average); (iv) the evolution of leachate properties with or without recirculation, where percolation, in addition to the dragging of soluble materials, stabilised waste, which diminished its biological activity. Rejects’ increased calorific value will allow combustible material to be recovered in the future as a way to exploit the energy potential stored in landfills.