Municipal waste management based on geomechanical assessments of the landfill site slope - a case study in southern Poland

Over time, municipal waste landfills tend to go higher and become larger. The stability of the municipal landfill slope is one of the basic geotechnical tasks. This task ensures continuous waste deposition on the landfill surface and safety in its surroundings. With the increasing height and volume of the landfill, it is difficult to estimate the available area of the municipal landfill, where more waste can be safely deposited due to a number of variable factors, such as the geotechnical conditions of the municipal landfill, the morphological composition, age, and degree of compaction and decomposition of the deposited waste. This paper presents an attempt to determine the available area of a landfill where municipal waste can be safely deposited for further operation. For this purpose, a numerical slope stability analysis was carried out using the finite difference method code FLAC3D, presenting the actual geomechanical conditions of a landfill located in southern Poland. Based on the numerical results, options for municipal waste storage were presented and discussed. The proposed design chart aims to help landfill owners/managers make an adequate decision in terms of landfill planning and design.