Environmental Impact Assessment of Odours from Solid Waste Landfills Located in Highly Urbanized Areas

Abstract

Urbanization and the rise in the standard of living generated both a higher quantity of waste and the expansion of cities with the incorporation of solid waste landfills located originally outside. In many cities across Romania, landfills are placed very close to settlements, and in some cases even inside cities. Beside landfill activities, other companies that deal with waste sorting, recycling and treatment operates nearby. All these activities generate odorous compounds that create odour nuisance. The current study was conducted in order to evaluate the impact of a landfill located in a highly urbanized area using dynamic olfactometry with the main objective to assess the level of odour concentration and the impact on the population. Samples were taken around the landfill always from a point opposite to the wind direction. Also, in parallel with odour sampling it was determined the concentration of two main chemical specific compounds, NH3 and H2S, in order to verify the compliance with environmental legislation, and the level of VOC to establish a correlation with the odour level. Measurement results indicate a high level of odour concentration in most of the samples, a good correlation with VOC and frequent exceeded values for the specific chemical compounds. Annoyance level was also high and it was evaluated using FIDOL factors, which are Frequency, Intensity, Duration, Offensiveness and Location.