Landfill Reclamation Neil Wilson

Landfills  Often in rural areas; city landfill reclamation can be relatively more rewarding  Fresh Kills, Staten Island, NY  2,200 acres

Landfill Reclamation  Use of term ‘reclamation’  Major motives  Recovery, processing and resale of material  Reduce landfill footprint  Recovery of space

Landfill Reclamation  Excavation- actual mining of the site, removing waste and separating materials  Soil and compost, metals, plastics, glass  Combustible fuel, methane  Can be expensive to process to market quality  Much rarer for an attempted restoration to a productive ecosystem

Challenges  Subsidence  Hazardous waste  Gases and leachate  Old landfill designs

Potential Goals  ‘Garden’ or cultivated sense is common, e.g. city park, passive recreation; nature conservation. ‘Useful space’  Using adjacent habitats as reference sites, to reach for as much connectivity as possible  Restoring a site to historical conditions may only be worth it when:  very specific past ecological role  small  densely populated region

Techniques  Establishing cap/ground stability and a thick soil layer are crucial  Establishing trees on cap was considered a bad idea  Rupture cap  Dry out cap  Gas, leachate, high temp  Roots are not as effective or penetrating as thought  Major barriers to plant growth  Compaction: preplanting aeration/tilling very beneficial  Landform: natural drainage, minimize waterlogging  Soil depth: 1.5 m at least for clay caps

Natural Restoration  Return some semblance of natural process; idea of eliminating limiting factors, or ‘guiding’  Connector or green-way between larger natural areas  Natural restoration requires less soil quality, less topsoil and far less upkeep than agriculture  More flexible landscape design- settlement/poor drainage areas etc become microhabitats, not problem areas; also, easier to accommodate gas recovery systems, etc

Restoration Ecology  Unarguably beneficial in terms of ecological, human interests  Economics often limiting factor in restoration projects- yet in Collier County, FL:  26 acre landfill; 7 year project  $300,000 capital expenses  $4.5-5 million saved over seven years  Public support is often strong, and community involvement easier to garner

Restoration Ecology  What does landfill reclamation represent?  Recycles large amounts of otherwise lost material, reduces footprint, and provides opportunity to resolve toxicological issues  Parkland or ‘usable space’ is a huge step ahead of brownfield in terms of productivity  Landfill restoration?  Returns ecosystem function  Can improve ecosystem health, connectivity; develop new human connection to the land  No historical element

References  AS Gregory, A. V. (2003). Effects of amendments on soil structural development in a clay soil-forming material used as a cap for landfill restoration. Environmental Sciences and Pollution Mgmt,  Harvard. (1990). Landfill Reclamation Project- Collier County. Retrieved April 20, 2011, from Harvard Kennedy School's Government Innovators Network:  Lazarus, A. (1995). Landfill mining and reclamation- An emerging technology. Environmental Sciences and Pollution Mgmt,  Nelson, H. (1995, Vol. 36). Landfill reclamation projects on the rise. BioCycle,  Simmons, E. (1999). Restoration of landfill sites for ecological diversity. Waste management and research, 511.