Landfill Litter Management

Here I'll summarize some basic techniques for managing, or controlling, litter at landfills.

1.   Develop a Litter Management Plan

Prepare a written plan that describes the litter management programs for your landfill.  This plan should outline bylaws or ordinances and how enforcement is done.  The plan should include policies and procedures for managing improperly contained waste loads.  It should include procedures for directing customers on-site and describe operating procedures for site litter controls.   With this plan, you should identify how you will monitor the effectiveness of the litter controls and you should include a practical response plan for litter clean-up. 

2.   Present a professional image.  

If you maintain a pleasing appearance at your landfill, you gain a greater degree of cooperation of your customers.  They will appreciate the effort to keep a site clean and are far more likely to take more care in how they transport their own loads are are far more likely to pay attention to site rules and site staff directions.  This can help your operation in more ways that just litter control, but it is an important piece of a litter management program.



3.   Cover

Cover includes cover of waste transporting vehicles and cover of waste disposed in the landfill.  Waste loads should be secured, tarped, or enclosed to prevent litter along roads leading to the landfill and along the landfill site roads.  This generally requires cooperation of legal enforcement agencies to be effective. 

Waste that is deposited at the landfill should be covered within practical reason to minimize exposure of the waste to wind. 

4.  Shelter to Prevent Wind-Blown Litter

An active working face that is sheltered from wind will minimize the amount of wind blown litter.   Shelter can be provided using natural wind breaks such as tree cover and sometimes topographical features.   Using portable wind-breaks placed on the upwind side of an active working face has also proven to be effective in reducing the speed of wind, thus reducing the amount of blowing litter. 

5.  Catch Litter

Most landfills use a variety of litter 'catch' fences to trap litter so that it doesn't escape the landfill.  This can include portable fences placed around the active working face,  temporary intermediate fencing placed through the landfill property, and perimeter fences at the site property lines.  




6.   Retrieve Litter

With effective litter control fences and operation procedures, there will be times when litter still escapes the active landfill area, or the landfill property.   The litter program MUST include a retrieval or clean up program in a timely way so that any fugitive litter does not collect for any unacceptable length of time.

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