Old Photos

I was going through some old computer photo files today.  I came across some photographs I took on a cold winter day a few years ago at the Newell Regional Landfill.  I thought I'd share these photos with you. 

First thing you'll notice, it is cold and the landfill is snow covered.  A good snowfall can make a landfill look pretty and clean.  Snow is a real good at covering up litter.  That is, until spring when it melts.  That's why a spring clean up of landfills in our part of world is always scheduled in the operating plan. 

The second thing you should notice in these pictures is the litter fences around the active working face.  This isn't the most effective configuration of these fences.  I have been at this site when the operators have completely encircled the working face with the portable fences. 

They lay the fences out in a kind of spiral so that there is an opening for access for the inbound customers.   This gives complete coverage for litter control in all directions.  At this location, winds direction can change quickly, so this kind of fence layout has shown to be effective. 

The third thing you should notice is the small working face.   This landfill isn't a particularly large operation, but never-the-less, they do put the effort in to keep the working face small to limit exposure of waste to the wind. 

The portable fences used at this site include a combination of litter catchment fences and wind screen fences. The fences are designed with a sloping face for better trapment of the litter.  The wind screens shelter the working face to reduce the wind speed. 

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.