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A new economic instrument for financing accelerated landfill aftercare

A new economic instrument for financing accelerated landfill aftercare
A new economic instrument for financing accelerated landfill aftercare
The key aspects of landfill operation that remain unresolved are the extended timescale and uncertain funding of the post-closure period. This paper reviews the topic and proposes an economic instrument to resolve the unsustainable nature of the current situation. Unsustainability arises from the sluggish degradation of organic material and also the slow flushing of potential pollutants that is exacerbated by low-permeability capping. A landfill tax or aftercare provision rebate is proposed as an economic instrument to encourage operators to actively advance the stabilization of landfilled waste. The rebate could be accommodated within existing regulatory and tax regimes and would be paid for: (i) every tonne of nitrogen (or other agreed leachate marker) whose removal is advanced via the accelerated production and extraction of leachate; (ii) every tonne of non-commercially viable carbon removed via landfill gas collection and treatment. The rebates would be set at a level that would make it financially attractive to operators and would encourage measures such as leachate recirculation, in situ aeration, and enhanced flushing. Illustrative calculations suggest that a maximum rebate of up to ~€50/tonne MSW would provide an adequate incentive.
0956-053X
1191-1198
Beaven, R.P.
5893d749-f03c-4c55-b9c9-e90f00a32b57
Knox, K.
46921bd6-2e94-40da-8bec-4b172cc12d3f
Gronow, J.R.
1101cdc4-3695-43c7-a68b-17763fea7124
Greedy, D
432e5b2b-79bd-4664-a77c-8276b04713c4
Hjelmar, O
7a2f477f-14e4-4d28-988d-38f4b5b6b56a
Scharff, H
bb3c2c1c-4604-42b1-a12f-673380edfb0e
Beaven, R.P.
5893d749-f03c-4c55-b9c9-e90f00a32b57
Knox, K.
46921bd6-2e94-40da-8bec-4b172cc12d3f
Gronow, J.R.
1101cdc4-3695-43c7-a68b-17763fea7124
Greedy, D
432e5b2b-79bd-4664-a77c-8276b04713c4
Hjelmar, O
7a2f477f-14e4-4d28-988d-38f4b5b6b56a
Scharff, H
bb3c2c1c-4604-42b1-a12f-673380edfb0e

Beaven, R.P., Knox, K., Gronow, J.R., Greedy, D, Hjelmar, O and Scharff, H (2014) A new economic instrument for financing accelerated landfill aftercare. Waste Management, 34 (7), 1191-1198. (doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2014.03.024).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The key aspects of landfill operation that remain unresolved are the extended timescale and uncertain funding of the post-closure period. This paper reviews the topic and proposes an economic instrument to resolve the unsustainable nature of the current situation. Unsustainability arises from the sluggish degradation of organic material and also the slow flushing of potential pollutants that is exacerbated by low-permeability capping. A landfill tax or aftercare provision rebate is proposed as an economic instrument to encourage operators to actively advance the stabilization of landfilled waste. The rebate could be accommodated within existing regulatory and tax regimes and would be paid for: (i) every tonne of nitrogen (or other agreed leachate marker) whose removal is advanced via the accelerated production and extraction of leachate; (ii) every tonne of non-commercially viable carbon removed via landfill gas collection and treatment. The rebates would be set at a level that would make it financially attractive to operators and would encourage measures such as leachate recirculation, in situ aeration, and enhanced flushing. Illustrative calculations suggest that a maximum rebate of up to ~€50/tonne MSW would provide an adequate incentive.

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Beaven et al 2014 Open Access version A new economic instrument for financing accelerated landfill aftercare.pdf - Author's Original
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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 30 March 2014
e-pub ahead of print date: 24 April 2014
Published date: 2014
Organisations: Civil Maritime & Env. Eng & Sci Unit

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 364173
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/364173
ISSN: 0956-053X
PURE UUID: de7f7ca6-b385-4f84-b44d-aac6072448e8
ORCID for R.P. Beaven: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-1387-8299

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Date deposited: 08 Apr 2014 10:06
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 02:53

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Contributors

Author: R.P. Beaven ORCID iD
Author: K. Knox
Author: J.R. Gronow
Author: D Greedy
Author: O Hjelmar
Author: H Scharff

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