Prolonged impact of closed municipal solid waste landfills on groundwater
The article analyzes the observations of the impact of preserved landfills on the hydrosphere (ground-, surface water, and filtrate) of adjacent territories in the countries of Northern Europe and the Russian Federation. The behaviour of more than 80 components over a long time was analyzed. Graphs of changes in the most representative of them are given in the article. Landfills impact the environment both during operation and after their closure, as long as substances are subject to dissolution, chemical transformation, or decomposition. It is shown that even 20 years after the closure of the landfills, intensive contamination of groundwater continues. The main conclusion is that it is necessary to move from waste disposal at landfills to their deep processing and use in the national economy. Of course, this has been a well-known fact for a long time, but unfortunately, in Russia, burial at landfills is still ongoing, and even new landfills are being created.