Sustainable assessment of the solid waste landfill sites environs.

Abstract

Karachi is the largest metropolitan city of Pakistan, with 10 % of the country's total population, generating more than 18000 tons of solid waste per day. The study's main purpose is to assess the environmental impact of landfill site activities in the study area. The effect of the solid waste activities in the area was considered on climate conditions and the city's waste management situation. The potential impact was identified through literature review, professional judgment, and field observation at selected landfill sites. The Study area was selected within a 1-kilometer radius from the center of each landfill site. Thirty soil samples were collected from 10 centimeters beneath the surface, 30 groundwater samples were collected from both shallow and deep wells at a depth range of 30-200 meters through hand pump or electrically pumped well, and 04 leachate samples were collected from the leachate ponds from each landfill site. To determine the air quality of the studied areas, 8 hours’ average samples were done. All the samples were collected under pre pre-inscribed protocol of United States Environmental Protection Agency guidelines. The results showed that the Carbon monoxide level in the air is higher according to prescribed limits. Gondpasss is a highly populated landfill site, while Dhabeji is much better. Landfill sites' ground water is alkaline. The ground water quality of Jamchakro and Gondpass is unsuitable for domestic and agricultural use. In contrast, the ground water quality of the developing landfill site in Dhabeji is much better and within acceptable limits. Based on a 2.59 percent population growth rate, future solid waste generation is expected to be 26845.89 tons per day by 2035. Adopting eco-friendly approaches such as waste-to-energy is the greatest way to manage and utilize waste.