Semra Bakkaloglu – What happens to my garbage?

Have you ever wondered about your garbage? Where is everything you ever threw away now?

The active area of a landfill

I spent much of the summer of 2019 at Viridor landfill sites located in the south west of England. Viridor Waste Management is one of our project partners to help us to figure out out landfill methane emissions.

After separation of recycling material, trash is layered with complex liner and drainage systems, which allows the decomposition of the complex organic waste naturally.
When it is fully filled, it is capped and covered with soil. By the help of microorganisms, the biodegradable waste produces the methane gas which is used for energy production.

The main aim of my landfill secondment was to analyse seasonal variation of landfill methane emissions and its isotopic signature. Up to now, we carried out summer, fall and winter surveys; however, spring surveys was cancelled due to Covid-19 pandemic.

The details of the results will soon be written up in a publication! Keep in touch.

Busy day in landfill
Gas well sampling for oxidation rate calculation	Dave, my supervisor is carrying a portable methane analyser around the site.	Gas busters and one of the gas wells