Modelling of a sanitary landfill for developing countries to improve the reliability of Life Cycle Assessment studies

Abstract

In developing countries, such as Brazil, the main destination of municipal solid waste is sanitary landfills. In Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies, the entire life cycle of the product or process is considered, therefore it is necessary to take into account the destination of the waste and by-products of the process in question. For a reliable and representative LCA study, these destinations have to be illustrative of the place where the study is conducted in. Regarding the treatment and disposal of organic solid waste, the main LCA databases, such as Ecoinvent 3.0, consider sanitary landfills modelled in European standards, which include processes that are not common in developing countries. In light of this reality, the aim of this study was to model a sanitary landfill that corresponds to the case of the said countries and provide a methodology to improve the significance of environmental studies, which can also be used with primary data. The model used literature data based on Brazilian reality, considering the operation of the landfill (transport and emissions and diesel usage in the spreading of the waste); biogas generation and treatment; leachate generation and treatment using stabilization lagoons and its emissions. When compared to landfill based on European reality, differences up to 80% can be observed in some potential environmental impacts.