LItter Pictures

I haven't posted anything lately about landfill litter. Perhaps its time I did that.  I thought I'd first post some copies of photographs of plastic bags and fences that I found searching around the web site.  I picked these photos for their artistic touch as much as making a point about issues with blowing plastic bags at landfills. 

Enjoy

Litter Catch Fences

Are you using fences to manage litter at your landfill?   

"If you don't use a variety of fences at your landfill, yet your complaining about litter, you're not dealing with the problem, your chasing symptoms"  (Who Says You Have a Litter Problem, Neil Bolton, MSW Management, July/August 2000)

Relying on one line of defence for managing your litter will help, but it won't solve the blowing litter issues.  You need to look at a variety of fencing options.  This includes, using perimeter fences,  wind-break fences, and portable catch fences.  You may need to erect temporary or semi-permanent lines of fences across your site between your action operations and the perimeter fences to catch litter.  In some circumstances, you may need to use tall baseball netting.  

Fencing systems must be designed to keep litter inside the landfill.   You want to focus on keeping blowing litter to a minimum by using operating practices that include operation of small working faces, apply cover,  and good compaction.   In some wind conditions, you may even need to limit your landfill operations.  

Perimeter Fence

Perimeter fences serve more than one purpose.  They provide site security, can limit animal access, and they are the last line of litter catchment before litter can escape the site. 

Perimeter fencing is most commonly constructed as a chain-link fence mounted on steel post.  Some designs include extension of the fence fabric below the ground surface and addition of electric fencing wire to discourage bear intrusion.    To prevent human intrusion, the fences should be a heavy gauge mesh and mounted on sturdy fence posts.  Some facilities will include barb-wire strands on top (as in the photo above).  Signs should be posted that clearly state 'no entry', and if the fence is electrified. 

To be effective as a litter catchment fence, the mesh wire should not be greater than 2 inches.    A unique design that I've seen installed in a couple of location in Southern Alberta is a sloping perimeter fence.  The fence is slope into the prevailing wind direction on the downwind side of the active landfill.   The concept behind this design is to drive the blowing litter to the bottom of the fence for easier retrieval and to minimize plugging of the fence that can happen with vertical fences. 

With either a vertical fence or sloping fence design, it is essential that the fences be cleaned of any litter that is trapped by the fence for both aesthetic reasons and to maintain the fence.  If litter is allowed to collect on the fence fabric, it may eventually plug the free flow of air through the fence and litter will then blow over the fence, or it may result in the fence being blown over. 

Intermediate Fencing

What I mean by intermediate fencing is fencing that is placed at strategic locations between the active areas of the landfill and the site perimeter fences.  Intermediate fencing may be temporary, semi-permanent, or even permanent when it makes sense to do so. 

The purpose of intermediate fencing may be to establish fence boundaries for different operations on the landfill and to provide added security if needed.  For purpose of this writing, it is fencing that is placed at location through the site to catch blowing litter.  The more of this fencing that is used, there will be less litter collecting along perimeter fences, and by logic, the less litter that will escape the landfill property.  

Intermediate fencing can consist of single rows of fencing or multiple rows.  Of course this will be determined by blowing litter direction, wind conditions experienced at the site, site topography, and budget allowances. 

When permanent fences are used, the fence could consist simply of a wire mesh fence (with no greater than a 2 inch mesh) mounted on angle iron posts, or it could be constructed similar to the chain-link perimeter fencing. 

Using semi-permanent fences allows for the fencing to be easily moved as the landfill expands.  The angle iron post design could be established as a temporary fence and used where it will be in that location for longer periods of time.   Some fence designs marketed by fencing companies are intended to be even more temporary.  Some vendor designs are simple fabric mounted on light weight posts and are anchored with wires.  Others are designed to angle into the wind.  The intent of the design is so that these fences can be easily and quickly moved. 

The baseball netting fences, may also be considered as an intermediate fence.  These fencing systems are usually a permanent installation, so their choice of location needs to be well planned out.  they need to be placed where the litter blows and where they won't interfere with landfill operations and development.   Some netting designs can be installed in a temporary location and be moved as the landfill operations move.  See photo examples below. 

Portable Catch Fences

Portable catch fences are used in close proximity of the active working face.  The are designed to be quickly moved so they can move with the continually moving working face and when the wind direction changes. 

Most designs consist of a heavy frame structure that is mounted on a skid frame.  The fence mesh is typically a heavier gauge 2 inch wire mesh.  The skid frame acts as the base to hold the fence erect.   My view is that the base (or skid frame) needs to be 2/3 the height of the vertical fence frame.   Ideally, at least 2/3 of the base should extend to the downwind site of the fence to reduce the potential for the fence blowing over.   These fence designs are moved by pulling the fence sections with the landfill equipment. 

Portable fencing sections can also be designed to slope into the wind.  This helps contain the litter at the bottom of the fence and reduce plugging of the fence.  

Some other innovative designs use a steel bar section on the vertical section of the fence that is built so the top of a loader bucket can hook under the bar to lift the fence and carry to the desired location

There are numerous manufacturers that market portable fence systems and can be easily found on an Internet search.   Landfill operators often develop their own innovated designs and work with local welding shops. 

What I think is important in portable fence design is:

• use heavy frames to reduce damages that occur with light frames
• use a wire mesh that is no greater than 2 inches
• design the fence with a substantial base to prevent it from blowing over
• design the fence so the ends butt up against each other, or even so they can over lap

Placing portable catch fences

The placement and use of portable litter catchment fences is just as important as their design.  Poorly placed, they can be completely ineffective.  The fences must be placed closed to the source of the litter and downwind.  Some operators will place these fences in a circular pattern around their active working face.  

Neil Bolton suggest using multiple rows of fences.  With a single row, the fence can be plugged and the litter will then blow over the fence.  Some litter may be trapped behind the fence if a sheltered zone is created by the plugged fence, but by placing a second row of fence, secondary trapment exists.  A third row provides an even higher degree of litter trapment.   A good example of this technique being applied is in the photo of the Lethbridge Regional Landfill at the top of this blog entry.

Ultimate Fencing Systems

If one searches around the Internet, you'll come across some fencing systems that entirely enclose the active working face under a mesh tent-like structure.   One example is shown below.  

How Strong is the Wind

Wind	Km/Hr	Wind Blown Litter
Calm	Up to 10	light film and paper
Light	10 -  20	crumpled dry paper, empty plastic bags
Moderate	20 - 40	light weight empty boxes, flat cardboard, paper products
Strong	40 - 60	corrugated cardboard boxes, sheets of Styrofoam, plastic containers
Gale	60 - 90	large boxes, sheets of ridge plastic, carpet, brush
Storm	90 - 117	construction materials (e.g. plywood sheets)
Hurricane	over 118	almost anything that is not secured
Tornado (F1 - F5)	105 - 322	dangerous winds

This table was derived from a litter study project for the Lethbridge Regional Landfill (Salbro Consulting).  Much of the information was adopted from a litter study that was done for the Pincher Creek Regional Landfill in the late 1970's.  The concept is that if was was dropped in these wind conditions, what litter would be carried by the wind away from the working face.   In the original Pincher Creek study, various materials were dropped from a 1.5 meter height in various wind speeds to observe what is carried in these winds. 

This reasoning was based on the idea that when waste is unloaded from customer vehicles at the working face, it is the point where the waste is most exposed to the wind.   

You may find in actual wind conditions that materials not identified in this table are carried by the wind and that some materials may not necessarily be carried by the wind, but may drift along the ground surface.  This table can be used as a general guide for different wind conditions, but shouldn't be thought of as a definitive description of what litter will blow in different winds.  

One thing that is clear though, "the stronger the wind,  the bigger the objects that will be blown by the wind".  

Also, keep in mind that two other factors that will have an influence on wind blown litter are turbulence and wind direction.  

Jim

Wind Patterns at Landfills

At a landfill, you have to deal with winds of different speeds and strength, steady winds, gusting winds, and winds that come from different directions.   The topography of your site affects the wind patterns at your site.  Know and understanding these winds and wind patterns is key to understanding how to properly apply your litter controls. 



Wind Over The Ground

Wind that blows over the ground creates a micro-pattern along the ground surface.  As the wind passes over the ground, the wind speed is slowed due to friction with the ground surface.  The type of vegetation and surface roughness will influence the degree of this effect.  For the most part, you would not notice this effect.

What is important to understand, is that smaller particles and easily airborne particles will stay suspended in the air.  Heavier particles will tend to flow across the ground until they are trapped by and object.

This can be seen by observing the materials that makes up the litter at different distances from the landfill operation.    

Wind Over Hills

Hills cause a variety of effects on wind as it passes over.  As the wind blows into the hill, it will tend to decrease in speed at the toe of the hill.  This is because a high pressure zone occurs on the windward side of the hill.  As the air mass moves up the hill slope, it will accelerate and will reach a maximum speed at the apex of the hill.   A low pressure zone will occur on the downwind side of the hill and a reduced wind speed may be observed.  

Turbulent winds may also show on the upwind and downwind sides of the hill depending on wind speed and the shape of the hill.  

In a landfill setting, these wind patters can be observed around stockpiles and fill areas.   Dust can be observed drifting off the crest of a soil stockpile and litter can often be observed circulating in the turbulent winds on the downwind side of stockpiles and fill slopes.   

Wind Funneling

In a geographic valley setting,  such as a mountain pass, wind that blows through the valley can accelerate.   The valley acts like a venturi tube.  As wind enters the valley it is compressed and increases in speed.  When the wind exits the valley, the air pressure decreases, but the exiting wind is at a much higher speed than when it entered the valley.   (look up Santa Anna Wind)

This same funneling effect can occur in a landfill setting where the wind is blowing parallel to an narrow open trench, or where it blows between two fill areas.  The effect of this funneling may not be easily observed as it's effect may be minimal in most cases. 

Topographic Exposure

The diagram at left shows an example topographic setting with perpendicular winds and parallel winds.  A active fill area with the greatest exposure to strong winds are shown red, while low exposure is shown in green.   A landfill operator should know where the highest topographical exposure area is at the landfill.  It will not be the same for all landfills and all wind situations. 

Observe the Wind

To develop an effective landfill litter management plan, the landfill manager should observe wind patterns on and around the landfill.  Observe winds around all topographical features, both mounds and open excavations.   Observe wind patters at different wind directions and speeds.   Measure the winds.  You can purchase hand held wind meters that you can use as you walk through the site.  Record the different wind speeds. 

Observe turbulent air patterns.  You can often see plastic film circulating in turbulent air.  You may also notice the wind speed recorded on your hand held wind meter is very erratic in highly turbulent air. 

Observe how the wind effects your active working face and tip area.  How is the litter wind blown, and where it goes to.   Take photographs and record what you observe. 

Litter around Bessborough landfill a problem, says resident

Litter around Bessborough landfill a problem, says resident

I found this story on the web.  You can read it and draw your own conclusions.  

Exposed to Wind

How much waste that is exposed to the wind can be directly related to the amount of wind blown litter you will have.  A large working face that is un-sheltered will certainly result in a high amount of wind blown litter.   Keeping an active working face as small as possible, or practical, is an important part of litter control.  In high wind conditions, it may be necessary to reduce the size of the exposed face, even if it means that inbound vehicles need to line up in a cue and await their turn. 

Sheltering the working face by taking advantage of surrounding topography may be effective in some circumstances and not so much in others.  More on this later when we discuss wind patterns and turbulence.   Using artificial wind breaks can provide some reduction in wind speed, and this will be discussed in a later post.   In this photo, this landfill is using a combination of fencing systems to provide shelter and to catch litter.  But most importantly, the working face is kept as small as possible to reduce the amount of waste exposed to the wind. 

Compacted Waste

Litter will be more easily wind blown when it is not compacted than if it is compacted.  Waste collection vehicles with compacted loads will have less litter wind blown as they unload than will the un-compacted loads.  Waste that is compacted on the working face is less likely to become wind blown than waste left in piles and exposed to the wind.    It should be remembered though that by pushing waste in windy conditions may actually add to the wind blown litter problem. 

It is important that the equipment operator understands that when spreading waste piles, the waste should be  pushed along the fill surface and not carried and dropped.  

Soil Cover

Covering the working face with soil will eliminate exposed waste and it cannot be pick up in the wind.    The equipment operator should advance the soil cover over the top bench of the daily cell to minimize exposure during the day.  Soil cover or an alternative cover is normally placed over the face at the end of a day's operation.  In some high wind conditions, the operator may need to apply a 'sprinkling' of soil cover over the working face during the day's operation to help control blowing litter. 

Example Landfill with Litter Issues

This landfill is located on the Canadian Prairies in an area that is un-sheltered and is exposed to windy conditions that are typical of the southern portion of the Canadian Prairie Provinces.   

At this point in time, the operators maintained a large open working face that was about 25 to 30 feet high.  Waste was unloaded from self-haul customers at the bottom (toe) of the working face, and commercial customers unloaded at the top.   

Vehicles unloading at the bottom of the face were somewhat sheltered and litter catchment fences were around the tipping area, but were not well positioned for best protection.

The commercial vehicles unloading at the top were exposed to high winds and there was no litter control fencing provided for shelter or litter catchment. 

To add to the litter issues, effective bylaw and bylaw enforcement was lacking.  Loads on inbound vehicles were often unsecured.  This led to litter along roads leading to the site and contributed litter issues at the landfill. 

The operators were provided with well designed portable litter catchment fences.  The fences were not effectively used around the working face.  Fences were placed around the lower tipping area, but they were not well positioned to closed the gaps between fence sections.    These fences were not effective in catching blowing litter off the working face, simply because of the height of the working face.   The tipping area at the top of the face, which was the most exposed to the wind,  had no litter fencing available.  

THE RESULTS

Recommendations

The recommendations for litter management at this site included:

-  minimize and control the size of the working face

-  increase the amount of portable litter catch fences

-  place portable fences where they will be effective and close gaps

-  add portable wind-break fences to shelter exposed tipping areas

-  establish effective controls for un-secured loads

-  implement a litter retrieval program

Perception = Reality

This site has an image problem.  if un-managed, litter is probably the first thing that a customer or a neighbour sees at a landfill.   Litter leaves a negative image in one's mind, and if not addressed properly, it can lead to distrust in all aspects of a landfill operation and management.  

A well maintained site with an effective litter management program leaves a positive image.  Customers using the site tend to be more cooperative, simply because if you show that you care, they will care too.   Neighbours to the site will have more trust in the site owners and operators, and there are cases when neighbours to a well run landfill have spoken out in support.   Hard to believe, but it happens. 

 Issues with Landfill Litter:

• environmental impacts
• impact on private property
• leads to distrust
• leads to loss of credibility
• Regulatory non-compliance

What are the environmental impacts?

• blight on the land
• odours
• surface water impacts
• interferes with farm equipment
• can be harmful to farm animals and wildlife
• can impact property value

Owners and operators of landfills with litter problems face several liability issues:

• financial cost of clean up & fines
• legal issues with regulatory action and neighbour legal suits
• loss of political favour
• loss of community trust
• effect on business relationships

Perception = Reality:     If your neighbours perceive that you have a litter issue at your landfill,  then the reality is that you have a litter problem that needs to be addressed. 

Evolution of Landfills in the 20th Century

You might think this is an odd title for this blog entry because it refers to the 20th Century.    We could go back to the beginning of time and talk about a time when the human population was nomadic and disposal of waste was as natural as it is in the animal population.  I wanted to focus on modern history rather than ancient history for the evolution of landfills. 

 This photograph shows a typical municipal dump site that existed in Western Canada well into the 1980's.  At one time, the Health Departments even encouraged burning of wastes as it was thought to be more sanitary.   Burning, of course, created its own health issues and environmental problems.  In the early part of the 20th century, our waste products mostly contained wood products, metals, food wastes, some paper products and so on.  Plastics started to become more prominent in the 1950's and by the 1980's, our waste were a much more complex mix that included plastics, chemicals, and other commercial products.  

Burning of waste in an open trench is incomplete in comparison to incineration in a highly technical waste to energy facility.  Incomplete burning emits toxic smoke that includes dioxins and furans, and can impact the health of the population around the site.  

During that time, the most common complaints about the 'open dumps' had to do with burning.  Residents complaint of the smoke and the smell. 

 Because open burning became a problem issue, Health & Environmental agencies then began to pressure municipalities to stop burning.  The pressure came through education and by enforcement actions in some cases.  

The consequences of not burning without changing the fundamental way in which we operated the old dump sites was often ignored.   With the uncovered waste piling up in the open trenches, the rotting waste caused odour, insect, and animal nuisances.  Leachate issues were still ignored.  Disposal trenches filled rapidly because waste was not being compacted.    Litter issues became a much larger issue, and complaints about uncontrolled blowing litter became the top public complaint issue. 

Fortunately, Health and Environmental agencies and municipalities took action to develop engineered landfills and developed proper landfill operating plans and procedures.  The landfills were not only designed better, but they were also equipped better.  Landfill operators were better trained  and their job status gained respectability. 


Still, even with these improvements made over the past several years in landfill design and operation, litter issues remained in many cases.  

Managing litter issues at a landfill involves a variety of control techniques that includes, covered loads on hauling vehicles,  waste handling and compaction,  litter control fences, wind shelter, and effective litter retrieval programs.  Some landfills also have limits on waste receipts in high wind conditions. 

In future blog entries, I will explain many of these techniques. 

Looking After Stuff

I've spent most of my life looking after the stuff that most of you toss out and never pay much attention to where it goes or what happens to it. I've been fortunate to work with people who try new things and share their knowledge about what works and doesn't work. One of the things I have spent time learning about is litter control and waste management facilities, or more specifically, at landfills. Much of what I have learned is from the landfill operators who have been frustrated by this never ending challenge, but who have been inovative in their ways of controling this perpetual problem.

Litter control at landfills takes an effort to understand wind patterns and know where and how to operate and use these patterns to advantage. It takes knowledge on how to handle waste in windy conditions and knowledge of fencing systems to trap litter and sheltering methods to prevent litter from blowing.

Over a period of time, I hope to share what I have learned, and I hope that you will, in return, share your experiences and knowledge.