35    BIOLOGICAL-MECHANICAL WASTE
TREATMENT TESTS AT A LANDFILL IN
EAST GERMANY
Joris Wotte, Professor and Director
Joachim Brummack, Silke Paar, and Bombard Gemende
Dresden University of Technology
Process and Environmental Engineering Institute
D-01062 Dresden, Germany
INTRODUCTION
There have been tremendous innovations in the waste treatment field in the last ten years. This
is true for both the thermal as well as the biological treatment methods. Reasons for that are the
increasing public awareness and the enormous pressure of the society upon all parts of the waste
management system. Whereas several, and sometimes conflicting requirements, have to be met,
the amount of waste generated is too large, both relative per capita as well as absolute figures.
We have been accustomed to living with waste, especially in the industrialized world. Politicians
are continuously developing laws or setting waste diversion and recycling goals. Scientists and
technicians are searching for new solutions. The public seems to be ready to contribute. However, the reality differs a lot from that picture.
SPECIAL SITUATION IN EAST GERMANY
Poor East-German Landfill Standard
Especially in Germany, but obviously also in other smaller industrialized countries, disposal
space is lacking. German landfills are packed and offer disposal volume only for very limited
terms. Search for new disposal sites seems to be almost hopeless. Under the present conditions,
waste export has to be refused, both ecologically and morally.
At least as equally pressing as the problem of waste amounts (or disposal space) is the problem
of parameters and dangers of the disposed residues. That problem is reflecting the long-term
risks caused by disposals. The extremely far-reaching requirements of the new waste act amendments in Germany'-2 are unambiguously addressing those risks especially. It has been widely
conceived that waste disposal does not mean annihilating (or eliminating), but only removing
from sight. This is much more dangerous, because establishing a disposal in fact represents the
installation of a huge long-term bioreactor into the environment.
Many of the landfills operated in the past and still partly in operation until now, cause a wide
variety of problems. Most of these have their origin in the anaerobic degradation of organic
waste components in the landfill. Characteristic intermediate and end products of this process are
organic acids and methane. Primary consequences of the anaerobic degradation are emissions of
methane-containing disposal gas and leaching water contaminated with organics as well as settlements of the landfill body. Secondary consequences, e.g., the mobilization of heavy metals
caused by the decreasing pH values, are not as easy to describe. The emission problem of landfills is extremely aggravated in East Germany, where practically no landfill has systems for
leaching water and disposal gas collection. To counter the mentioned problems, the anaerobically
degradable components of the waste have to be "rendered harmless" prior to disposal.
50th Purdue Industrial Waste Conference Proceedings, 1995. Ann Arbor Press, Inc.. Chelsea. Michigan 48118.
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