Landfilling and Its Environmental Impacts

The rapid urbanization and industrial production led to increasing the amount of municipal and industrial solid waste generation. Among the different waste management practices, disposal of solid waste in landfills and open dumpsite ‘landfilling’ is considered the most common method, especially in developing countries, for the disposal of waste. Although the method of landfilling is considered simple and cost-effective, the process of landfilling poses significant potential impacts on the environment. Researchers all over the world have performed evaluation studies to investigate the impact of landfilling on the environment (e.g. water quality, air quality, soil and plant contamination, and toxic effects on the different organisms). Therefore, it is a crucial step to summarize and assess the findings reported by researchers in this field. In this chapter, the impacts of landfilling on different environmental compartments are assessed and summarized. Further, the toxicological assessment of landfill leachate on different organisms (invertebrates, algal, aquatic organisms, etc.) is summarized. Finally, the methodologies used to assess the environmental impacts of landfilling on the environment are discussed and summarized.