Municipal Solid Waste Landfills
Click on image to see a larger view of a map of
Active MSW Landfills
Solid Waste means any garbage, refuse, sludge from a wastewater treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility and other discarded materials including solid, liquid, semi-solid, or contained gaseous material, resulting from industrial, commercial, mining and agricultural operations, and from community activities, but does not include solid or dissolved materials in domestic sewage, or solid or dissolved materials in irrigation return flows or industrial discharges that are point sources subject to permit under 33 USC 1342, as amended (86 Stat. 880), or source, special nuclear or by-product material as defined by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (68 Stat. 923) except as may be provided by existing agreements between the State of New York and the government of the United States.
Municipal Solid Waste means combined household, commercial and institutional waste materials generated in a given area.
Mixed Solid Waste means combinations of putrescible and nonputrescible waste materials.
Putrescible waste means solid waste that contains organic matter capable of being decomposed by microorganisms and of such a character and proportion as to be capable of attracting or providing food for disease vectors.
Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Landfills in New York State
Landfilling of solid waste will continue to be a necessary part of integrated solid waste management systems, since there will always be a need to dispose of waste that cannot be economically reused or recycled or incinerated for energy recovery.
As of September 2010, there were 27 active MSW landfills in New York State. In 2009, these MSW landfills accepted a total of 7.6 million tons of solid waste. At the end of 2009, the landfills had approximately 221 million tons of capacity remaining including capacity actually constructed and that which was not yet constructed but permitted to be constructed. This equates to approximately 29 years of capacity at 7.6 million tons per year.
The minimum liner required for an MSW landfill is a double composite liner with primary and secondary leachate collection and removal systems, which allows the performance of the primary liner system to be regularly evaluated to ensure adequate protection of groundwater resources. In the year 2009, approximately 340 million gallons of leachate, which would otherwise have entered the environment, were collected from these 27 MSW landfills and treated.
More about Municipal Solid Waste Landfills:
- Active MSW Landfills in New York State - Map of active MSW landfills in NYS
- 2009 Solid Waste Capactiy Chart - Solid waste capacity chart, including waste quantities, annual permit limits and existing entitled capacities.
- 2008 Solid Waste Capacity Chart - Solid waste capacity chart, including waste quantities, annual permit limits and existing entitled capacities.
- 2007 Solid Waste Capacity Chart - Solid waste capacity chart, including waste quantities, annual permit limits and existing entitled capacities.
- 2006 Solid Waste Capacity Chart - Solid waste capacity chart, including waste quantities, annual permit limits and existing entitled capacities.
- Components of A Modern Municipal Solid Waste Landfill's Environmental Containment System - A description of the landfill liner and cover system components required for municipal solid waste landfills in New York State.
- Landfill Liner Systems-The Geomembrane - A description of the geomembrane used in landfill liner systems.
- Landfill Gas - General information on landfill gas and landfill gas vents.
- Solid Waste Management Facility Groundwater Monitoring Well Design - A description of groundwater monitoring wells used at landfills.
