UWARUNKOWANIA GEOLOGICZNE SKŁADOWANIA ODPADÓW KOMUNALNYCH

Abstract

GEOLOGICAL CONDITIONS OF MUNICIPAL WASTE LANDFILLINGAbstract. Not sealed landfills provide one of the most dangerous threats for ecosystems, and for health and existence of people. High production of wastes, and big diversity of their compositions are inherent in the human development. A proper choice of locality of a landfill as well as proper design of its construction, exploitation and adjustment to the landscape play fundamental role. In the evaluation of the security of the construction, and of the security of the surrounding natural environment, one must consider the localisation and construction of these facilities as well as the diversity of processes which occur in the accumulated mass of wastes, and their dynamics. The methods of waste management in Poland are analysed in the present work. In particular, the methods of neutralizing of municipal wastes by means of landfilling are analysed depending on the Polish geological conditions. The characteristics of soils were focussed on their suitability for using in construction of mineral sealing of landfills. These analyses were confronted with the demands outlined in guidelines and in the law. These analyses allowed to systematise the knowledge on selection of places suitable for landfilling and/or for acquisition of mineral material for construction of landfills. Also, when lacking the appropriate natural material, they helped in improvement of the bedrock by composing of appropriate soil mixtures.Areview of selected landfills at various stages of working, embracing the time span from a few years to a few tens of years, is presented. The facilities established some tens of years ago have a similar origin: an accidental localisation – very often the worst possible for an object with high construction demands and a pronounced interaction with the environment (in particular on groundwaters), the lack of sealing of the bottom, not regulated water and sewage waters management. In many cases, working of landfills in such conditions exhibits contradictions between the accepted rules of siting and sealing, and the actual exploited or existing objects. There also occurs feed-back between the natural conditions, especially geological ones, and the construction of a landfill. All the mentioned conditions define restrictions in siting and construction of landfills. It is seen in legal, social, environmental (biotic andabiotic) as well as construction-engineering aspects. In many points of these considerations one can observe contradiction of priorities. The rule of sustainable development must mitigate the conflicts which arise here.