[en] The aim of this Ph. D. Thesis was to assess the improvements that could be applied in designing, building and operation processes of sanitary landfills for urban solid wastes that are classified as class II, following Brazilian regulations ABNT/NBR /10.024/2004). Any improvement should be carried out taken into account the following issues: - To enlarge the useful life of the exiting dump waste facilities that is in running. - To grant design of new projects with the aim of allowing conversion of the available area in a site of "perennial" landfill. This opens the possibility of working following a cell sequence, in such a way that it would be possible to come back to the first cell and open it, allowing its reincorporation as an area for waste elimination. - To take into account the possibility that closed dump waste sites would work again as storage areas. The use of the soil as a depot of urban solid waste is of word concern, mainly due to the exhaustion of natural resources and also because this is an activity implying the utilization of large surface areas, which are more or less subjected to environmental impacts, depending level of public awareness and on the technology employed for design and landfill operations. The most adequate options regarding soil use and environment should be: to enlarge the useful life of the sanitary landfill, to reuse previously degraded zones for this activities and to open again closed dump deposits. This study was theoretically based on research work carried out in the landfill of Americana, a town located in São Paulo, Brazil. The methodological references employed were established on both, qualitative and quantitative explorations. The improvements proposed in this work of thesis are based on the use of technology for waste treatment along the waste destruction process o at reopening of previously closed landfills. A place for the final destination of the residues is required in any case. In this study, after the analysis of various waste treatment techniques, several scenarios for elimination and reuse of waste materials previously processed are assessed. These include, for example: a) transfer of previously stabilised wastes to landfills for inert materials in degrades areas where soil reposition in needed, b) employment of a separation unit including several sieves to separate soil materials former stabilised, in such a way that a part could be buried in the landfill for inert material, whereas the remaining part could be used as material for landfill covering and c) utilization of thermodegradable wastes as combustible for thermoelectric power plants, asphalt power plants, biomass boilers and other related open cycle thermal processes. Another advantage associated to this practice gives birth to the possibility of assessing techniques currently used for impermeabilization and drainage of waste landfills.

[gl] O obxectivo desta Tese de Doutoramento é avaliar as melloras que se poden aplicar nos procesos de deseño, construción e operación de recheos sanitarios de Residuos Sólidos Urbáns-RSU, clasificados como clase II, segundo a normativa brasileira ABNT/NBR (10.004/2004). Estas melloras deberían ser levadas a cabo tendo en conta os seguintes aspectos: - Aumentar a vida útil dos vertedoiros existentes e en execución. - Participar no deseño de novos proxectos co obxectivo de converter a área nun lugar de depósito "perenne", deixando aberta a posibilidade de traballar nunha secuencia de celas, podendo voltar á célula de partida para a apertura e a súa reintegración como unha área de eliminación de residuos. - Considerar a posibilidade de que os vertedoiros que xa estean pechados sexan, novamente, utilizados como zonas de almacenamento. O uso do solo como almacén de residuos sólidos urbanos é un problema global, principalmente debido ao esgotamento dos recursos naturais e a que se tratra dunha actividade que implica o uso de grandes áreas que sufriron impactos ambientais, en maior ou menor medida, dependendo do nivel de concienciación e da tecnoloxía utilizada no deseño do proxecto e as tarefas de recheo. As opcións máis axeitadas en canto ao uso do solo e o medio ambiente consisten en: prolongar a vida útil do vertedoiro, reutilizar as áreas xa degradadas por esas actividades e reabrir os depósitos que xa foron pechados. A fundamentación teórica deste estudo centrouse no traballo de investigación levado a cabo no Vertedoiro de Americana, en São Paulo/Brasil. As referencias metodolóxicas utilizadas están baseadas en investigacións cualitativas e cuantitativas. Nesta tese proponse o uso de tecnoloxía para o tratamento de residuos no proceso de eliminación ou a reapertura de vertedoiros pechados. En todo caso é necesario un lugar de destino final dos residuos. Despois das técnicas de tratamento que se citan neste estudo, sinálanse varios escenarios para a eliminación e a reutilización do material tratado, tales como: a transferencia dos restos xa estabilizados a vertedoiros para residuos inertes en áreas degradadas que necesitan substituír o solo; a utilización dunha unidade de separación, que inclúe varias peneiras para separar o solo xa estabilizado: unha parte podería enterrarse no vertedoiro de áridos mentres que a outra parte podería ser usada para cubrir o propio vertedoiro, ou a utilización de residuos termodegradables como combustible para centrais termoeléctricas, plantas de asfalto, caldeiras e outros procesos térmicos ciclo aberto relacionados. Outra vantaxe asociada a esta práctica é a posibilidade de avaliar as técnicas actualmente utilizadas para impermeabilización e drenaxe dos vertedoiros de residuos