Legacy Waste Dumpsite's Remediation Methods and Challenges

Journal of Research and Development Peer Reviewed International, Open Access Journal. ISSN : 2230-9578 | Website: https://jrdrvb.org Volume-17, Issue-10(II)| October2025 45 Legacy Waste Dumpsite’s Remediation Methods and Challenges Pooja Sawant Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Science, SIES College (Empowered Autonomous), Sion West, Mumbai Email: p[email protected] Manuscript ID: JRD -2025-171010 ISSN: 2230-9578 Volume 17 Issue 10(II) Pp. 45-51 October 2025 Submitted: 18 Sept. 2025 Revised: 29 Sept. 2025 Accepted: 10 Oct. 2025 Published: 31 Oct. 2025 Abstract India is facing a huge challenge of managing the waste. The management of waste is not easy task due to the huge amount of waste generated on daily basis and along with it the management of decade long dumped waste in the open dumpsites or the unscientifically operated landfills. Which is known as Legacy waste. The present landfills are already overloaded with the mixed waste. The decade long waste dumped is creating huge environmental impact through leachates generation, fires at the dumpsites, foul smell, spread of diseases leading to public health impact. And along with it the fresh waste generated on daily basis is dumped over the legacy waste aggravating the problem further. Legacy waste management is very crucial as it is harming the environment creating hazards leading to impact on the public health. According to the solid waste management rules, 2016 it is mandatory to remediate the legacy waste dumpsites. The Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0 also advocates the remediation of the legacy waste dumpsites and landfills. This review study is undertaken to understand the composition of the legacy waste, review the methods and challenges in remediation of legacy waste dumpsite. The study recommends the integrated waste management method, consideration of circular economy, technological innovations to overcome the challenges in remediation of legacy waste dumpsites. Keywords: Legacy waste, remediation, dumpsites, circular economy, leachates. Introduction The amount of waste generation is increasing with the increase in population. Industrialization added to the quantity of waste generated along with the urbanization. Managing this huge amount of waste is a major concern. Management of waste is a global challenge. Earlier before 1970s, the waste generated was converted into the compost and was going back in the soil. The farmers were collecting even the waste generated in the urban areas to add it in their agricultural field. Later in seventies when the plastic waste got mixed in the waste the urban waste was not being taken by the farmers as that was affecting their agricultural field.1 The mixed waste was dumped in the open dumping sites. Today in India, after almost three decades the waste is collected into heaps of mountains in almost more than 3000 open dumping sites. These heaps of waste are way higher than the permissible limits of 20 meters. All the opens dumps are even filled beyond their carrying capacity. India is facing two major challenges with respect to the effective waste management a. Generation of huge amount of waste on daily basis, b. Treating the decade long neglected waste On daily basis more than 1,60,000 metric tons of waste as per CPCB is generated. Before effective management of the generated waste is completed, the same huge amount of waste is collected the next day. Also, the landfills which are present are already overloaded like for example, Ghazipur landfill in Delhi, has reached the height of around 69 meters, Bhalswa reached height around 56 meters, Okhla reaching height of 55 meters.1 These piles of waste have not only occupied the several hectors of land but they are leading to generation of leachates due to anaerobic decomposition of the mixed waste lying in the landfills. Quick Response Code: Website: https://jrdrvb.org/ DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17464074 Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) This is an open access journal, and articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Public License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work noncommercially, as long as appropriate credit is given and the new creations ae licensed under the idential terms. Address for correspondence: Pooja Sawant,Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Science, SIES College (Empowered Autonomous), Sion West, Mumbai How to cite this article: Pooja Sawant,(2025). Legacy Waste Dumpsite’s Remediation Methods and ChallengesJournal of Research & Development, 17(10(II)),45-51 Original Article Journal of Research and Development Peer Reviewed International, Open Access Journal. ISSN : 2230-9578 | Website: https://jrdrvb.org Volume-17, Issue-10(II)| October2025 46 The leachates percolates under the ground and are contaminating the groundwater. The surface runoff of it is leading to contamination of surface water. This has resulted in spread of water borne diseases affecting public health. Methane one of the major green house gases is also released due to the rotting of the waste over the period of time. The methane gas has 21 times more potential in global warming compared to carbon dioxide. These landfills are major contributors to the total methane emission in the country. The air pollution is also one of the major concerns due to the frequent fires which takes place at such open dumping grounds with the mixed waste piled up leading to emissions of dioxins, carbon monoxide, VOCs, PM2.5, PM 10.11 The open dumps attract rodents and many other insects leading to spread of various diseases like malaria, dengue, plague. Also, the aesthetics of an area is getting affected due to huge amount of waste seen over a large landscape. The management of these mountains of waste collected over the period of time referred to as “Legacy Waste” at the earliest will help in reducing our national methane emission, reducing the water and air pollution helping in improving public health. The management of legacy waste will also help in creating space for the present waste left for final disposal. Objectives 1. To gain the insights on the composition of legacy waste. 2. To review the methods and challenges in remediation of legacy waste dumpsite. 3. To find out whether the practice of legacy waste mining and treatment is a sustainable practice. Literature review Krishnan and Sharma suggested that the mining of legacy waste can lead to economic benefits and a good way to reduce the hazards generated by the same. As per the review conducted by Anusree and Sivakumar the criteria for remediation of dumpsite mining are not given. The study proposed the criteria to select the appropriate remediation methods to overcome the problems like leachate generation, the emission gases. The study even highlighted the challenges faced in managing the waste and the site. It also recommended the strategies to overcome these challenges through the legislative support, integrated waste management, moving towards circular economy and sustainable innovative practices. According to the authors, Vivek Ojha, Apurva Sharma, Ved Prakash Ranjan, Rahul Rautela, Aachal Dhawral, Sunil Kumar in their paper highlighted that the Recovery Index Potential is a key to know the type, quality and composition of the material recovered through dumpsite mining. Landfill mining can lead to sustainable solution but also may lead to huge environmental contamination if not carried out properly. A case study of Pune city for legacy waste management, the authors Mr. Vishal Madhukar Bhandare, Mr. Shrikant M Bhosale, Dr. Y M Patil concluded that optimisation of cost still requires more research and if done properly then the income generation can be more than the expenditure, benefiting the Municipal corporation and generating more employment. Methodology The legacy waste dumpsites contain a heterogenous mix of waste including the plastic, glass, metals, organic matter, textile and other things10. The waste which needs segregation and treatment. The dumpsites lack leachate management as these dumpsites where not scientifically constructed so no underground lining. Open dumping at such sites attracts the rodents, insects, release of foul smell takes place affecting the environment and public health. In the absence of effective waste management strategies, the methods of waste disposal like open dumping, burning of the waste, unsanitary landfills will further aggravate the issue. This study focuses on understanding the legacy waste, its composition. It also reviews the potential of the recovered waste in the circular economy. The challenges faced in the legacy waste mining. Legacy Waste The legacy waste is the aged waste from the dumpsites or the landfills. The waste which is lying on the land or in the landfill for years together. It is a waste which is partially or completely decomposed material, plastic, metals, glass, textile and any other material found in the dumpsites. Composition of Legacy Waste The legacy waste is lying on the ground or in the landfill for a long period of time. Depending on the time period of the waste dumped in the legacy waste dumpsites the composition of the waste differs. In India, the dumpsites contain the legacy waste and the fresh waste the composition of both the waste is different. The microorganisms act on the biodegradable legacy waste and it is broken down into simple inorganic material. The process depends on the various factors like size of organic material, temperature and moisture content, air passage in the landfill or the dumpsite. This makes the fresh and the legacy waste different. The decomposition also helps in deduction in the mass and volume of the waste in the landfill. The legacy waste dumpsites constitute 40 to 60% of fines. The fines are the small fractions of mineralized organic waste mixed with the silt, dust, cement dust from demolition waste. The amount of fines present in the dumpsite Journal of Research and Development Peer Reviewed International, Open Access Journal. ISSN : 2230-9578 | Website: https://jrdrvb.org Volume-17, Issue-10(II)| October2025 47 depends on the age of the dumpsite and the region where it is located. 75% of fines are found in the older dumpsites present in the Delhi where the organic matter present got degraded for a longer period of time. As compared to the dumpsites in Mumbai which are comparatively new has less amount of fines present.2 One-third of the dumpsite contains the inert waste. The inert waste is a nonreactive waste found mixed in the legacy waste dumpsites. Also, contains combustible material such as paper, textile, cardboard, plastic which forms around 15 to 20 %. Fig 1. Legacy waste composition in dumpsites in different states. Source: Toolkit legacy waste management and dumpsite remediation in India and CSE. The broken pieces of glass, cement bricks coarse material is also recovered. The fig. 1 shows the composition of the legacy waste at different dumpsites where miscellaneous items refer to sanitary waste, diapers, razers, needles.2 The Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 are framed for effective management of solid waste under Government of India. Under this rule, the provisions for the managing old dumpsites of municipal solid waste are given. It states that it is the responsibility of the local authorities to take necessary steps to manage all the open dumpsites through Biomining and Bioremediation where ever possible. And where these techniques are not feasible their scientific capping of the dumpsites should be done. Biomining and Bioremediation Biomining is a scientific process of excavation of material its scientific treatment with the help of micro-organisms, segregation and utilization of it is referred to as biomining. The treatment of the waste by living forms where organic matter is converted into inorganic form is bioremediation. Bioremediation helps in stabilization of the material which facilitates further segregation of the waste. Steps in Biomining and Bioremediation 1. Initial study: survey through maps and drones of the dumpsite, the amount of waste present, survey of the area for approaching the site. Risk assessment, Baseline data collection of the present conditions of the soil, water, air. Characterization waste and establishing tie ups. 2. Excavation: Systematic excavation through sophisticated techniques, identifying the depth of excavation, use of PPEs 3. Stabilization of waste: creating windrows, spraying bio-culture, removal of moisture 4. Screening and utilization: segregation of waste and further processing of the waste as per the size and composition. 5. Utilization of the land: cleaning the recovered land and utilizing it. Journal of Research and Development Peer Reviewed International, Open Access Journal. ISSN : 2230-9578 | Website: https://jrdrvb.org Volume-17, Issue-10(II)| October2025 48 Fig.2. Steps in Biomining Process of Biomining and bioremediation In biomining of legacy waste, the waste is excavated which leads to loosen the dump and then windrows of the waste are made by spreading the waste in large areas so that the waste is dried under the sun. The windrows are then mixed with the bio-culture which helps in speeding up the process of decomposition which helps in converting the organic matter into inorganic form which is in the form of gases like carbon dioxide and water vapors. This process is referred to as bioremediation. The waste thus reduces in volume by 35-40 %.1 The process of decomposition releases heat which further helps in drying of the waste when the waste is completely dried and no more heat is generated due to decomposition process. This is referred to as waste stabilization. The next stage is screening of the stabilized waste. While the waste is windrowed the large materials visible are even handpicked. The stabilized waste becomes convenient for screening as different sizes of waste can be separated and further channelized or process. The very fine particles remaining after screening is the bio-earth is a very good compost, which can be used in the agricultural activity by farmers, it is a soil conditioner, can be used for land scaping. The large course material recovered after screening is the bricks, cement blocks, stones, other waste dumped like piece of cloth, large plastic.1 This large course material can be spread on density separator which separates the plastic and other lighter material from the heavy ones. The remaining fraction of waste is in between the fine and large material which can be shredded as required and use for road construction, recyclables can be recycled and combustible can be used as refuse derived fuel. The dumpsite from where the waste is excavated can be used for dumping fresh waste or can be used for totally different purpose. In the Gorakhpur, the remediation of legacy waste dumpsite helped to convert the remediated land into a dense forest. 4 Source: CPCB guidelines, 2019 Journal of Research and Development Peer Reviewed International, Open Access Journal. ISSN : 2230-9578 | Website: https://jrdrvb.org Volume-17, Issue-10(II)| October2025 49 Fig 3. CPCB guidelines on Biomining Thus, the biomining and bioremediation is one of the recommended methods to treat the age-old waste dumped unscientifically in the landfills. It helps in reducing the methane emissions as it digs in the site and moves the waste creating air movement within the heaps. Biomining helps in recovery of the material which can be put to use again like the polymeric fractions can be used as refuse derived fuel (RDF) to generate energy leading to energy recovery from the waste, the large fractions for road filling, also it helps in land recovery which can be used to dump the fresh waste where the concern for landfilling of the current waste is high. Challenges in biomining and bioremediation The major concern for effective implementation for biomining is the heterogenous type of waste in the landfills. Most of the dumpsites are been burdened with the dumping of fresh waste over the legacy waste. This becomes a major challenge as the decomposition rate for the age-old waste and the fresh waste differs, which affects the rate of stabilization of the waste. It even increases the cost of the treatment due to increase in the quantity of waste, where already the amount of legacy waste is too high and the fresh waste adds to it. The recovered material needs to be tested before putting it to use. The recovered inert fraction used for soil conditioning may have traces of heavy metals or organics. This may lead to leaching after use. The environmental and public health may further get affected due to recovered legacy waste. At the same time the cost of treatment of the legacy waste increases for testing the recovered waste before use. Another major challenge is the recovered waste need to be fully utilized or their will be a burden of the recovered waste. There should be takers for the recovered waste so that further utilization of the waste as resource is done.5 Only the waste which cannot be further treated or utilized should go in the sanitary landfills reducing the burden on the sanitary landfills. Deonar Dumping Ground Deonar dumping ground is one of the oldest and the largest dumping ground operating since 1927. It is located in the eastern suburbs of Mumbai. It is around 311 acres of land parcel. Earlier before urbanization, the nearby area of the dumping ground was an open area. Later as the settlements started and the inhabitants in the areas of Deonar, Mankhurd, Govandi, Shivajinagar stared increasing in 1990s. On daily basis, the dumping ground received 3000 MT of waste.12 Frequent fires at the piled-up waste led to the air pollution and the environmental hazard. As per the reports, the life expectancy of the people in the nearby locality has reduced and increase in the number of tuberculosis was seen.12 In January 2015, a massive fire breakout took place at the dumping ground and later even in March 2016 which lasted for days together leading to huge environmental and public health da1mage.12 The order of closure of the dumping ground was passed by the Bombay High Court looking at the impact created due to the piled-up waste and the saturated site. The BMC and Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs decided to close the Deonar dumping site through Bioremediation. The project is to be executed as per the Solid Waste Management Rule, 2016 and CPCB guidelines. The project involves the bioremediation of 2 crore tones of legacy waste through excavation, segregation of legacy waste. The testing of the material recovered will be done to comply with the environmental regulations. The processing of the waste will be done by adding bio culture for speeding up the bioremediation process. The recyclables will be channelized to the authorized recycling units. Transport of Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) will be done to the cement making factories or alternatively to the WasteEnergy-Recovery plants. The excavated soil will be used for leveling the low-lying areas. Also, out of the total land parcel of 311 acres which will be remediated State Government designated 124 acres for Dharavi Redevelopment Project, 136 acres for BMC and a rest unusable.12,14 The project contract is been awarded to Navayuga Engineering Ltd. for Rs. 2,540 crores above the BMC estimate of Rs. 2,368 crores for the period of 3 years as per the Times of India reports.13 Conclusion Biomining aa well as Bioremediation are the solutions which are sustainable for managing the legacy waste by reducing the volume and reducing the environmental hazard. They also help in recovery of the material. Biomining and Bioremediation techniques help in aligning with the principles of circular economy as they convert waste to usable material like compost, Refuse derived fuel etc. Along with the land reclamation. However, there are various challenges in applying the techniques. As reviewed, the old waste getting mixed with the fresh waste and both being heterogenous waste further increases the challenge. Thus, increasing the cost of treatment, testing of recovered waste which are a concern while management of the legacy waste. There need to be sufficient funds, involvement of public and private parties along with locals as reviewed the Deonar Dumping ground remediation project. In such case the remediations methods can become a sustainable practice. Journal of Research and Development Peer Reviewed International, Open Access Journal. ISSN : 2230-9578 | Website: https://jrdrvb.org Volume-17, Issue-10(II)| October2025 50 Recommendations 1.Adopting Legacy Waste Remediation Program nationwide. A time-bound nationwide program for management of legacy waste need to be adopted by the government and the local authorities. The funding and monitoring mechanism should be in place for systematic implementation across states. 2.Segregation and testing of the recovered material: After excavation proper segregation through appropriate waste characterisation should be done. That will help in prevention of contamination and maximum recovery of recyclable material. 3.Integration of Circular Economy: The recyclable items should be channelised for economic gains through authorised market partnership and tie-ups with the industries and other sectors for maximum utilisation of recovered waste is recommended to prevent the burden of recovered waste. 4..Strict enforcement of rules and regulations: There should be strict enforcement of Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 along with training for scientific ways of implementation of the remediation techniques. 5..Awareness among the public: Spreading awareness regarding the significance of managing the legacy waste through the techniques like biomining and bioremediation. Education the people about the same for public participation. Importance of segregation of waste at source should be advocated through campaigns to reduce the further issues and challenges. 6.Research: To optimize the cost of the biomining and bioremediation techniques more research is needed. Also, further research is required for the optimum utilisation of the recovered material. For more viable and sustainable practices. References 1. Legacy Waste Biomining guidelines February 2019, CPCB (Ministry of environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India) 2. Singh, R. (2022). Toolkit: legacy waste management and dumpsite remediation to support Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0. Centre for science and environment, New Delhi, 1-72. 3. Vivek Ojha, Apurva Sharma, Ved Prakash Ranjan, Rahul Rautela, Aachal Dhawral, Sunil Kumar, Resource recovery from legacy waste dumpsites in India: A path towards sustainable waste management, Chemosphere, Volume 365, 2024, 143337, ISSN 0045-6535, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.143337. 4. Legacy Waste Site Remediation In Gorakhpur City: Environmental Implications And A Pathway To Green Credits, Gaurav Singh Sogarwal (I.A.S) Municipal Commissioner Gorakhpur Government of India. IJCRT | Volume 13, Issue 1 January 2025 | ISSN: 2320-2882 5. Ghosh, A., Kartha, S.A. (2024). Landfill Biomining of Legacy Waste Dumpsites in India: Process, Challenges and Future Perspective. In: Kumar, V., Bhat, S.A., Kumar, S., Verma, P. (eds) Environmental Engineering and Waste Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-58441-1_13 6. 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Linah Baliga. 19 July 2025. Navayuga Engineering Company wins BMC contract to clear Deonar dumping ground. Hindustan Times. 15. Richa Pinto. 05 September 2025, BMC ends deadlock on Deonar legacy waste clearing contract in Mumbai, settles on 3% above cost estimate. Times of India.