Annexes to COM(1997)105 - Landfill of waste

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dossier COM(1997)105 - Landfill of waste.
document COM(1997)105 EN
date April 26, 1999
ANNEX I


GENERAL REGUIREMENTS FOR ALL CLASSES OF LANDFILLS

1. Location

1.1. The location of a landfill must take into consideration requirements relating to:

(a) the distances from the boundary of the site to residential and recreation areas, waterways, water bodies and other agricultural or urban sites;

(b) the existence of groundwater, coastal water or nature protection zones in the area;

(c) the geological and hydrogeological conditions in the area;

(d) the risk of flooding, subsidence, landslides or avalanches on the site;

(e) the protection of the nature or cultural patrimony in the area.

1.2. The landfill can be authorised only if the characteristics of the site with respect to the abovementioned requirements, or the corrective measures to be taken, indicate that the landfill does not pose a serious environmental risk.

2. Water control and leachate management

Appropriate measures shall be taken, with respect to the characteristics of the landfill and the meteorological conditions, in order to:

- control water from precipitations entering into the landfill body,

- prevent surface water and/or groundwater from entering into the landfilled waste,

- collect contaminated water and leachate. If an assessment based on consideration of the location of the landfill and the waste to be accepted shows that the landfill poses no potential hazard to the environment, the competent authority may decide that this provision does not apply,

- treat contaminated water and leachate collected from the landfill to the appropriate standard required for their discharge.

The above provisions may not apply to landfills for inert waste.

3. Protection of soil and water

3.1. A landfill must be situated and designed so as to meet the necessary conditions for preventing pollution of the soil, groundwater or surface water and ensuring efficient collection of leachate as and when required according to Section 2. Protection of soil, groundwater and surface water is to be achieved by the combination of a geological barrier and a bottom liner during the operational/active phase and by the combination of a geological barrier and a bottom liner during the operational/active phase and by the combination of a geological barrier and a top liner during the passive phase/post closure.

3.2. The geological barrier is determined by geological and hydrogeological conditions below and in the vicinity of a landfill site providing sufficient attenuation capacity to prevent a potential risk to soil and groundwater.

The landfill base and sides shall consist of a mineral layer which satisfies permeability and thickness requirements with a combined effect in terms of protection of soil, groundwater and surface water at least equivalent to the one resulting from the following requirements:

- landfill for hazardous waste: K <= 1,0 × 10- 9 m/s; thickness >= 5 m,

- landfill for non-hazardous waste: K <= 1,0 × 10- 9 m/s; thickness >= 1 m,

- landfill for inert waste: K <= 1,0 × 10- 7 m/s; thickness >= 1 m,

m/s: meter/second.

Where the geological barrier does not naturally meet the above conditions it can be completed artificially and reinforced by other means giving equivalent protection. An artificially established geological barrier should be no less than 0,5 metres thick.

3.3. In addition to the geological barrier described above a leachate collection and sealing system must be added in accordance with the following principles so as to ensure that leachate accumulation at the base of the landfill is kept to a minimum:

Leachate collection and bottom sealing

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Member States may set general or specific requirements for inert waste landfills and for the characteristics of the abovementioned technical means.

If the competent authority after a consideration of the potential hazards to the environment finds that the prevention of leachate formation is necessary, a surface sealing may be prescribed. Recommendations for the surface sealing are as follows:

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3.4. If, on the basis of an assessment of environmental risks taking into account, in particular, Directive 80/68/EEC(1), the competent authority has decided, in accordance with Section 2 ("Water control and leachate management"), that collection and treatment of leachate is not necessary or it has been established that the landfill poses no potential hazard to soil, groundwater or surface water, the requirements in paragraphs 3.2 and 3.3 above may be reduced accordingly. In the case of landfills for inert waste these requirements may be adapted by national legislation.

3.5. The method to be used for the determination of the permeability coefficient for landfills, in the field and for the whole extension of the site, is to be developed and approved by the Committee set up under Article 17 of this Directive.

4. Gas control

4.1. Appropriate measures shall be taken in order to control the accumulation and migration of landfill gas (Annex III).

4.2. Landfill gas shall be collected from all landfills receiving biodegradable waste and the landfill gas must be treated and used. If the gas collected cannot be used to produce energy, it must be flared.

4.3. The collection, treatment and use of landfill gas under paragraph 4.2 shall be carried on in a manner which minimises damage to or deterioration of the environment and risk to human health.

5. Nuisances and hazards

Measures shall be taken to minimise nuisances and hazards arising from the landfill through:

- emissions of odours and dust,

- wind-blown materials,

- noise and traffic,

- birds, vermin and insects,

- formation and aerosols,

- fires.

The landfill shall be equipped so that dirt originating from the site is not dispersed onto public roads and the surrounding land.

6. Stability

The emplacement of waste on the site shall take place in such a way as to ensure stability of the mass of waste and associated structures, particularly in respect of avoidance of slippages. Where an artificial barrier is established it must be ascertained that the geological substratum, considering the morphology of the landfill, is sufficiently stable to prevent settlement that may cause damage to the barrier.

7. Barriers

The landfill shall be secured to prevent free access to the site. The gates shall be locked outside operating hours. The system of control and access to each facility should contain a programme of measures to detect and discourage illegal dumping in the facility.


(1) OJ L 20, 26.1.1980, p. 43. Directive as last amended by Directive 91/692/EEC (OJ L 377, 31.12.1991, p. 48).


ANNEX II


WASTE ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA AND PROCEDURES

1. Introduction

This Annex describes:

- general principles for acceptance of waste at the various classes of landfills. The future waste classification procedure should be based on these principles,

- guidelines outlining preliminary waste acceptance procedures to be followed until a uniform waste classification and acceptance procedure has been developed. This procedure will, together with the relevant sampling procedures, be developed by the technical Committee referred to in Article 16 of this Directive. The technical Committee shall develop criteria which have to be fulfilled for certain hazardous waste to be accepted in landfills for non-hazardous waste. These criteria should, in particular, take into account the short, medium and long term leaching behaviour of such waste. These criteria shall be developed within two years of the entry into force of this Directive. The technical Committee shall also develop criteria which have to be fulfilled for waste to be accepted in underground storage. These criteria must take into account, in particular, that the waste is not to be expected to react with each other and with the rock.

This work by the technical Committee, with the exception of proposals for the standardisation of control, sampling and analysis methods in relation to the Annexes of this Directive which shall be adopted within two years after the entry into force of this Directive, shall be completed within three years from the entry into force of this Directive and must be carried out having regard to the objectives set forth in Article 1 of this Directive.

2. General principles

The composition, leachability, long-term behaviour and general properties of a waste to be landfilled must be known as precisely as possible. Waste acceptance at a landfill can be based either on lists of accepted or refused waste, defined by nature and origin, and on waste analysis methods and limit values for the properties of the waste to be accepted. The future waste acceptance procedures described in this Directive shall as far as possible be based on standardised waste analysis methods and limit values for the properties of waste to be accepted.

Before the definition of such analysis methods and limit values, Member States should at least set national lists of waste to be accepted or refuses at each class of landfill, or defined the criteria required to be on the lists. In order to be accepted at a particular class of landfill, a type of waste must be on the relevant national list or fulfil criteria similar to those required to be on the list. These lists, or the equivalent criteria, and the analysis methods and limit values shall be sent to the Commission within six months of the transposition of this Directive or whenever they are adopted at national level.

These lists or acceptance criteria should be used to establish site specific lists, i.e. the list of accepted waste specified in the permit in accordance with Article 9 of this Directive.

The criteria for acceptance of waste on the reference lists or at a class of landfill may be based on other legislation and/or on waste properties.

Criteria for acceptance at a specific class of landfill must be derived from considerations pertaining to:

- protection of the surrounding environment (in particular groundwater and surface water),

- protection of the environmental protection systems (e.g. liners and leachate treatment systems),

- protection of the desired waste-stabilisation processes within the landfill,

- protection against human-health hazards.

Examples of waste property-based criteria are:

- requirements on knowledge of total composition,

- limitations on the amount of organic matter in the waste,

- requirements or limitations on the biodegradability of the organic waste components,

- limitations on the amount of specified, potentially harmful/hazardous components (in relation to the abovementioned protection criteria),

- limitations on the potential and expected leachability of specified, potentially harmful/hazardous components (in relation to the abovementioned protection criteria),

- ecotoxicological properties of the waste and the resulting leachate.

The property-based criteria for acceptance of waste must generally be most extensive for inert waste landfills and can be less extensive for non-hazardous waste landfills and least extensive for hazardous waste landfills owing to the higher environmental protection level of the latter two.

3. General procedures for testing and acceptance of waste

The general characterisation and testing of waste must be based on the following three-level hierarchy:

Level 1: Basic characterisation. This constitutes a thorough determination, according to standardised analysis and behaviour-testing methods, of the short and long-term leaching behaviour and/or characteristic properties of the waste.

Level 2: Compliance testing. This constitutes periodical testing by simpler standardised analysis and behaviour-testing methods to determine whether a waste complies with permit conditions and/or specific reference criteria. The tests focus on key variables and behaviour identified by basic characterisation.

Level 3: On-site verification. This constitutes rapid check methods to confirm that a waste is the same as that which has been subjected to compliance testing and that which is described in the accompanying documents. It may merely consist of a visual inspection of a load of waste before and after unloading at the landfill site.

A particular type of waste must normally be characterised at Level 1 and pass the appropriate criteria in order to be accepted on a reference list. In order to remain on a site-specific list, a particular type of waste must a regular intervals (e.g. annually) be tested at Level 2 and pass the appropriate criteria. Each waste load arriving at the gate of a landfill must be subjected to Level 3 verification.

Certain waste types may be exempted permanently to temporarily from testing at Level 1. This may be due to impracticability to testing, to unavailability of appropriate testing procedures and acceptance criteria or to overriding legislation.

4. Guidelines for preliminary waste acceptance procedures

Until this Annex is fully completed only Level 3 testing is mandatory and Level 1 and Level 2 applied to the extent possible. At this preliminary stage waste to be accepted at a particular class of landfill must either be on a restrictive national or site-specific list for that class of landfill or fulfil criteria similar to those required to get on the list.

The following general guidelines may be used to set preliminary criteria for acceptance of waste at the three major classes of landfill or the corresponding lists.

Inert waste landfills: only inert waste as defined in Article 2(e) can be accepted on the list.

Non-hazardous waste landfills: in order to be accepted on the list a waste type must not be covered by Directive 91/689/EEC.

Hazardous waste landfills: a preliminary rough list for hazardous waste landfills would consist of only those waste types covered by Directive 91/689/EEC. Such waste types should, however not be accepted on the list without prior treatment if they exhibit total contents or leachability of potentially hazardous components that are high enough to constitute a short-term occupational or environmental risk or to prevent sufficient waste stabilisation within the projected lifetime of the landfill.

5. Sampling of waste

Sampling of waste may pose serious problems with respect to representation and techniques owing to the heterogeneous nature of many wastes. A European standard for sampling of waste will be developed. Until this standard is approved by Member States in accordance with Article 17 of this Directive, the Member States may apply national standards and procedures.


ANNEX III


CONTROL AND MONITORING PROCEDURES IN OPERATION AND AFTER-CARE PHASES

1. Introduction

The purpose of this Annex is to provide the minimum procedures for monitoring to be carried out to check:

- that waste has been accepted to disposal in accordance with the criteria set for the category of landfill in question,

- that the processes within the landfill proceed as desired,

- that the environmental protection systems are functioning fully as intended,

- that the permit conditions for the landfill are fulfilled.

2. Meteorological data

Under their reporting obligation (Article 15), Member States should supply data on the collection method for meteorological data. It us up to Member States to decide how the data should be collected (in situ, national meteorological network, etc.).

Should Member States decide that water balances are an effective tool for evaluating whether leachate is building up in the landfill body or whether the site is leaking, it is recommended that the following data are collected from monitoring at the landfill or from the nearest meteorological station, as long as required by the competent authority in accordance with Article 13(c) of this Directive:

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3. Emission data: water, leachate and gas control

Sampling of leachate and surface water if present must be collected at representative points. Sampling and measuring (volume and composition) of leachate must be performed separately at each point at which leachate is discharged from the site. Reference: general guidelines on sampling technology, ISO 5667-2 (1991).

Monitoring of surface water is present shall be carried out at not less than two points, one upstream from the landfill and one downstream.

Gas monitoring must be representative for each section of the landfill. The frequency of sampling and analysis is listed in the following table. For leachate and water, a sample, representative of the average composition, shall be taken for monitoring.

The frequency of sampling could be adapted on the basis of the morphology of the landfill waste (in tumulus, buried, etc). This has to be specified in the permit.

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4. Protection of groundwater

A. Sampling

The measurements must be such as to provide information on groundwater likely to be affected by the discharging of waste, with at least one measuring point in the groundwater inflow region and two in the outflow region. This number can be increased on the basis of a specific hydrogeological survey and the need for an early identification of accidental leachate release in the groundwater.

Sampling must be carried out in at least three locations before the filling operations in order to establish reference values for future sampling. Reference: Sampling Groundwaters, ISO 5667, Part 11, 1993.

B. Monitoring

The parameters to be analysed in the samples taken must be derived from the expected composition of the leachate and the groundwater quality in the area. In selecting the parameters for analysis account should be taken of mobility in the groundwater zone. Parameters could include indicator parameters in order to ensure an early recognition of change in water quality(1).

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C. Trigger levels

Significant adverse environmental effects, as referred to in Articles 12 and 13 of this Directive, should be considered to have occurred in the case of groundwater, when an analysis of a groundwater sample shows a significant change in water quality. A trigger level must be determined taking account of the specific hydrogeological formations in the location of the landfill and groundwater quality. The trigger level must be laid down in the permit whenever possible.

The observations must be evaluated by means of control charts with established control rules and levels for each downgradient well. The control levels must be determined from local variations in groundwater quality.

5. Topography of the site: data on the landfill body

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(1) Recommended parameters: ph, TOC, phenols, heavy metals, fluoride, AS, oil/hydrocarbons.