Geotechnical Properties and Engineering of Municipal Solid Waste Landfills

Landfills for municipal solid waste represent complex engineered systems in which the mechanical and hydraulic behaviour of heterogeneous waste directly affects long-term stability and environmental performance. Key geotechnical properties include shear strength, compressibility, permeability and gas migration characteristics, all of which evolve over time under the combined influence of waste degradation, moisture redistribution and applied loads. Engineering design addresses these challenges through composite liner systems with low hydraulic conductivity, dedicated leachate collection and drainage layers, slope reinforcement schemes and bioreactor landfill concepts. Composite liners must maintain interface strength to resist slip, while drainage layers require balanced geotextile and aggregate design to avoid clogging and perched leachate. Bioreactor landfills employ controlled leachate recirculation and aeration to accelerate decomposition and induce consolidation, though elevated pore pressures demand careful slope stability assessment. Numerical and physical modelling techniques have been developed to capture coupled hydro-bio-mechanical processes, informing the optimisation of containment barriers, gas management strategies and final cover systems. Advances in geosynthetic materials, monitoring methods and stabilisation indicators now underpin more reliable, sustainable landfill practice on a global scale.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have established a one-dimensional model for landfill gas transport that integrates depth-dependent gas permeability, anisotropy ratios and settlement caused by waste biodegradation. By distinguishing unsaturated and saturated regions and layering newly deposited and older waste, the model accurately predicts gas pressure distributions and identifies zones of peak pressure. Sensitivity analyses reveal that permeability anisotropy exerts a significant influence on gas migration patterns. This work offers a robust framework for improving gas collection system design and reducing the risk of excessive internal pressures within engineered landfills.

Geotechnical Properties and Engineering of Municipal Solid Waste Landfills publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in geotechnical properties and engineering of municipal solid waste landfills across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Shear strength: The resistance of landfill materials to failure along internal planes under applied stress.

Hydraulic conductivity: A measure of how easily fluids move through waste or liner materials.

Consolidation: The process by which waste volume decreases as fluids are expelled under load.

Bioreactor landfill: A landfill operated with controlled moisture or aeration inputs to accelerate organic degradation and settlement.

Geosynthetic: A synthetic polymer product (such as geotextile or geogrid) used for reinforcement, containment or drainage in landfill engineering.

References

1. Simulation of gas transport in a landfill with layered new and old municipal solid waste. Scientific Reports (2021).
2. A degradation–consolidation model for the stabilization behavior of landfilled municipal solid waste. Computers and Geotechnics (2020).
3. Stability of MSW Landfill Slopes Reinforced with Geogrids. Applied Sciences (2022).
4. Slope stability analysis of a landfill subjected to leachate recirculation and aeration considering bio-hydro coupled processes. Geoenvironmental Disasters (2021).