Box 36E Monitoring emissions from waste sites

The importance of monitoring activities at waste sites has gained attention from national authorities due to increased evidence of contamination from past improper waste management practices. Although regulations in several European countries require that monitoring at waste sites should be performed systematically, the knowledge of current and potential contamination of operating landfills in most European countries is still limited. Furthermore, little is known about the fate of pollutants at old contaminated sites.

In EU countries, the proposal for a Directive on landfill requires that countries should report on the capacity, operation and environmental conditions of landfills. Important considerations for the design of monitoring programmes are:

In addition, encouragement is being given to associating monitoring programmes with contingency action plans. Major components of leachate to be monitored include: nitrogen species, chloride and the sodium/potassium ratio. Landfill gases to be monitored include carbon dioxide and methane.