Heijo Scharf (Afvalzorg, The Nederlands) presented the EU Landfill Gas Control Guidance document.
The landfill directive 1999/31/EC provides instructions to the members states to include specific aspects in the landfill permit. However the members states argued that the requirements were too vague. In reaction the guidance document was drafted by a working group installed by DG ENV (March 2010), consulted with Member States and approved following a Technical Adaptation Committee meeting (December 2013). This document describes the targets to reach, but does not provide technical data or means.
An important target is that landfill gas extraction should start as soon as possible following waste disposal. As the landfill starts to emit landfill gas already at the start of the operation, landfill gas collection should actually start from the first ton of waste landfilled unless it can be demonstrated that only negligible quantities of landfill gas are produced.
Landfill operators must ensure that the maximum amount of landfill gas is oxidised over the whole lifecycle of the landfill. Note that the guidance is not talking about flares, but uses the term oxidised.
According to the presenter a strong focus on electricity generation often results in unnecessary diffuse emission. Hot water generation is more flexible, requires less investment, can also be used for cooling purposes and allows higher gas recovery rates.
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