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. 

Good Fences Make Good Neighbours

"When it comes to controlling litter, good fences make good neighbours"   Neil Bolton is a consultant that specializes in landfill operations.  He also writes for MSW Management.   This is a link to an article he wrote and that was published in the October 2004 issue. 

http://www.mswmanagement.com/september-october-2004/controlling-litter-good.aspx

Wind Patrol - Litter Fence

In this article, Mr. Bolton talks about portable fences and the importance of placing them to be effective.  He also talks about using wind break fencing materials to reduce wind speed and turbulence.  The article discusses litter retrieval and how to deploy staff assigned to picking litter. 





Wind Patrol - Wind Break



In future posts, we'll show wind patterns that affect landfill operations, and we'll show the use of litter catch fences and wind breaks.   Mr. Bolton's article is a good lead into these topics.