In 2018, the Korean government introduced a landfill levy under the Framework Act on Resource Circulation. This was a fiscal measure to ensure that landfill waste disposal is priced so as to reflect its environmental cost and to help promote more sustainable waste management. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of the landfill levy as a landfill policy instrument in Korea. In this study, a literature survey was conducted on the existing theoretical and empirical insights to the effectiveness of landfill taxes, including experiences in several EU countries. This survey shows that if landfill taxes are to be effective in terms of reducing the amount of waste going to landfills, the tax rate should be put at a fairly high level. It should be noted that the landfill tax rates should be set based on the external cost of landfill disposal. In addition, it appears that the landfill tax has not significantly affected generated waste per capita in the EU. The landfill tax can result in negative effects. Due to the reduction of waste sent to landfills, there is a risk that landfill operators will not be able to fulfil their financial obligations for closure and aftercare. Additionally, after closure and construction of the surface sealing, the emissions potential of the waste body remains more or less constant, resulting in the extended time-scale and uncertain funding of the post-closure period. This is a problem applicable to most landfills that contain inorganic waste. Thus, landfill operators should be stimulated by means of appropriate regulations to stabilize the waste body as much as possible to guarantee the lowest possible emission potential. This requires financial incentives, which are implemented to encourage operators to actively advance the stabilization of landfill waste.

폐기물매립지에서 함수율은 폐기물의 분해속도뿐만 아니라 폐기물의 분해율에도 영향을 미치는 것으로 알려져 있으며, 이에 매립지 내부의 수분을 인위적으로 증가시켜 매립가스 발생량을 증대시키는 bioreactor 공법이 연구되고 있다. 따라서 향후에는 국내외 매립가스 자원화를 계획 및 진행하고 있는 폐기물매립지를 대상으로 bioreactor 공법이 적용될 것으로 예상되며, 이를 위해 매립지 내부의 함수율 변화에 따른 매립가스 발생특성이 예측되어야 할 것이다. 그러나 기존 연구들에서는 실내실험 및 현장 실증실험을 통하여 bioreactor 공법 적용에 따른 조기안정화 및 매립가스 발생량 증대 효과만을 나타내었을 뿐 함수율 변화가 폐기물의 분해도 및 분해속도에 미치는 영향을 수치적으로 나타내지 않아 bioreactor 공법 적용에 따른 정확하고 신뢰성 있는 매립가스 발생량 예측이 어려운 점이 있다. 이에 본 연구에서는 매립지 내부에서의 함수율 변화가 메탄발생 특성에 미치는 영향을 평가하여 향후 함수율 변화에 따른 메탄발생량 및 발생속도 예측의 기초자료로 이용하고자 하였다. 시료는 가연물 중 매립지에 가장 높은 비율로 매립되는 종이를 대상으로 하였다. 각 반응조별 초기 함수율은 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%로 설정하였으며, 초기함수율 10~40%의 반응조들은 가스발생이 중지되었을 때 함수율을 10%씩 증가시켜 최종적으로는 모든 반응조의 함수율이 50%에 도달하도록 실험을 진행하였다. 실험결과 메탄발생이 최초 중지되는 시점의 각 반응조별 메탄발생 비율은 50% 반응조 대비 10%는 0.4%, 20%는 0.8%로 메탄발생이 매우 미미하였으며, 30%는 6.5%, 40%는 28.9%로 매우 적은 메탄발생 비율을 나타내었다. 이후 각 반응조마다 메탄발생이 중지되는 시점에 함수율을 10%씩 증가시켜 모든 반응조의 최종 함수율이 50%가 되도록 하였으며, 실험 종료 후 메탄발생 비율은 초기함수율 50% 대비 10%는 3.5%, 20%는 7.0%, 30%는 25.1%, 40%는 49.6%로 나타났다. 이론적으로는 초기 함수율이 낮아도 최종 함수율이 동일하면 유기물의 분해속도는 달라도 최종 함수율이 나타내는 메탄발생량과 동일한 값을 나타내어야 하나 초기함수율 10~40% 반응조 모두 초기함수율 50%가 나타내는 메탄발생량에 훨씬 못미치는 메탄발생량을 나타내었다. 따라서 메탄발생량과 연관하여 초기함수율은 매우 중요 인자이며, 메탄발생이 중지되는 시점에 수분을 추가로 주입하면 메탄발생이 다시 시작되나 최종 메탄발생량은 초기 함수율이 낮을수록 크지 않을 것으로 판단된다.

The IPCC methodology for estimating methane emissions from a solid waste landfill is based on the first order decay (FOD) method. One emission factor in the model is the methane generation potential (L0) that is estimated from the amount of decomposable degradable organic carbon (DOC) in a solid waste landfill. L0 is estimated based on the fraction of DOC in the waste, the fraction of the degradable organic carbon that decomposes under anaerobic conditions (DOCf), methane correction factor (MCF), and the fraction of methane in generated landfill gas (F). The other emission factor is the methane generation rate constant (k). The IPCC recommended that every country needs to develop country-specific key parameters (DOC, DOCf, k) more appropriate for its circumstances and characteristics. The objective of this research was to investigate the greenhouse gas emission factor (k) and parameters (DOC, DOCf) for wood wastes in a solid waste landfill. To investigate DOC, DOCf, and k for wood wastes, the biodegradable rate of wood wastes was determined by comparing the composition of excavated samples (L-1, L-2) with their fresh ones (F-1, F-2). The DOC values were found to be 48.36% and 45.27% for F-1 and F-2, respectively. It showed that the IPCC default value of DOC for wood wastes is appropriate for estimating methane emission. The maximum DOCf (0.17 and 0.18) or each wood waste excavated from G landfill was found to be lower compared with those for IPCC. The IPCC provided that default values of DOCf 0.5. The k values were found to be 0.0055 and 0.0058 year−1 for F-1 and F-2, respectively. The result confirmed that the biodegradation rate of wood wastes was very slow due to its lignin.

In order to accelerate the biodegradation of easily organic materials in landfilled waste before excavating a closed solid waste landfill and prevent to be dried the landfilled wastes at the same time, this study has suggested the Dual Step Biostabilization System (DSBS), which could inject air with dry fog into its body. In addition, the applicability of the DSBS was estimated by means of field test at a closed landfill. As a result of field test, the reduction of oxygen consumption rate for landfilled wastes (48%) stabilized by air with dry fog was higher than that of landfilled wastes (38%) stabilized by only air. Three lysimeter experiments were, also, performed for the landfilled wastes sampled from the closed landfill. The production of cumulative carbon dioxide for landfilled wastes stabilized by air with dry fog was estimated to be highest (1,144.8 mL). In case of lysimeter that moisture was not introduced was found to be 1,051.9 mL, while another lysimeter that moisture was introduced through horizental trenches was 1,095.8 mL. It is clear that the DSBS can accelerate the biodegradation of organic compounds. In terms of volatile solids, the reduction amount of volatile solids for air with dry fog was higher than that of the other conditions.

Needs for more accurate greenhouse gas (GHG) emission estimation are increasing to prepare for post-Kyoto protocol and emission trading starting from 2015 in Korea. Although GHG emission from landfill is relatively low, uncertainty of methane emissions from landfill is very high compared to the other sectors. Moreover, accurate estimation is needed to design landfill gas collection system and energy generation plant. In this paper, we investigated development methodologies of parameters comprising methane generation potential (L0) which is one of key parameters in methane emission estimation models. DOC included four steps including analysis of waste component, water content, organic carbon content, fossil carbon content. Instead of analysis of organic carbon content and fossil carbon content, biochemical analysis, measuring content of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, is used in MELMod, landfill gas generation model in UK. Methodologies to develop DOCF has several methods including batch test, lysimeter test and test cell. They had difference in scale and similarity to landfill, but it is hard to consider the best method at the present stage. Preceding research on MCF is little. Lysimeter test and test cell can be the candidate to develop MCF, because of flexibility on test condition to characterize the structure of landfill sites. F is defined as fraction of methane in landfill gas. But by carbon flow and mass balance, F should represent fraction of methane in biogas generated by anaerobic decomposition. In this definition, F can be derived by same methods to that of DOCF.

A field research at Sudokwon landfill was carried to analyse the effect of leachate and organic waste water injection on decomposition characteristics of landfill waste. The moisture content after leachate (79,783 m3) addition into block 3A for 1 year increased from 27.4% to 34.1%. As a result of moisture increasement, Cellulose and Lignin proportions as indicators of waste degradability changed from 1.45 to 1.18. It is also illustrated that TOC as an indicator of CH4 production potential reduced from 22.0% to 19.5%. Comparison results of TOC after 4 months of each leachate, digested waste water, food waste water injection into block 4A shows reduction of 3.5%, 4.7% and 3.7%, respectively. Hence, it is indicated that injection of leachate and organic waste water into landfill enhances the rate of CH4 production as well as the speed of landfill stabilization.

The objective of this study was to assess the affects of various solid waste landfill methods on mass balance of carbon. Four lysimeters simulated a conventional landfill (Lys-A), a landfill recirculated only fresh leachate (Lys-B), and two landfills recirculated leachate after pretreating with ASBR (Lys-C and Lys-D) were operated over 1,600 days. Lys-D was recirculated two times of pretreated leachate volume than that of Lys-C. Mass balance of carbon was calculated considering leachate and biogas production for each lysimeter. Lys-C and Lys-D showed that there was an increase of about 3 times in total amount of COD recovered as methane than Lys-A. This results might be attributable to the activated methanogenic bacteria and the high pH of pretreated leachate. In terms of mass balance of carbon, amount of carbon converted to landfill gas in Lys-B (25.20 g/kg-dry waste) was bigger than that of Lys-A (23.64 g/kg-dry waste), while carbon conversion rate to landfill gas for Lys-A and Lys-B showed 4.80% and 4.71%, respectively. It is assumed that only fresh leachate recirculation method can increase amount of carbon converted to landfill gas resulting from the biodegradation of organic carbon in recirculated leachate. However, in comparison with the conventional landfill method, this method should not accelerate hydrolysis of carbon from the wastes. Carbon conversion rate in the landfill recirculated leachate after pretreating with ASBR was increased due to accelerated anaerobic metabolism processes of the microbes. In Lys-C and Lys-D, about 5.9% of carbon was converted to landfill gas. Therefore, it could be seen that the landfill recirculated leachate after pretreating with ASBR could enhance carbon conversion to landfill gas more than the conventional landfill or the landfill recirculated only fresh leachate.