Leachate treatment by physico-chemical concentration procedures generates leachate concentrate that have to be handled. Injection in the body of MSW has sometimes been proposed. In a pilot-scale study, we observed that a large part of the injected lea...
Leachate treatment by physico-chemical concentration procedures generates leachate concentrate that have to be handled. Injection in the body of MSW has sometimes been proposed. In a pilot-scale study, we observed that a large part of the injected leachate concentrate pollution load was restituted. We also observed that the onset of stable methanogenesis was delayed in the test pilot compared to the control one. Viable bacterial counts in the leachate of the test column had remained several order of magnitude lower for more than 200 days, indicating a possible inhibitory effect on bacterial development. Our lab-scale results were corroborated by observations made on a full-scale landfill cell where leachate concentrate injection was performed. We conclude that certain characteristics of the leachate concentrate should be monitored before injection in order to evaluate its compatibility with waste degradation processes.