Material recovery as a strategy for landfill remediation: a case study of Nkolfoulou landfill, Cameroon

Abstract This study sought to evaluate the potential advantages of recovering both fresh and old waste from the Nkolfoulou landfill as a remediation technique, a means of gaining airspace, and a means of retrieving material, thus increasing the flow of secondary resources in the local economy. The current treatment procedures were assessed. Waste sampling and characterization, largely based on an adapted version of the French standard for household waste characterization, was carried out for six districts of the capital of Cameroon (Yaounde1- Yaoundé 6) for fresh and old waste samples. The results revealed the low efficiency of the current waste management strategy and highlighted that fresh waste recovery would yield a potential of roughly 22% of recoverable material and a 29.2% gain in airspace per ha which is more significant than the current system. This would consequently prolong the lifespan of the landfill. In addition, landfill mining had a recovery potential of 19%, but to address the current state of the landfill and economy, pretreatment of waste by material recovery of fresh waste proved more feasible and beneficial. It would be advised as a primary barrier and preferred to landfill mining.