STUDY ON 3RS OF WASTES AND ECOLOGICAL LANDFILLS

N. Usui1,

S. Seki2,

T. Fukumoto2,

Y. Shimomura2, T. Furuichi2, and M. Hanashima2

1 Senior Engineering Project Group-2, Geo Environmental & Waste Management Dept. ,Taisei Corporation,
1-25-1 Nishi Shinjuku,Shinjuku-Ku,Tokyo 163-0606,Japan
2 The landfill systems & technologies research association of Japan (LSA, NPO)
401 Chateau Takanawa, 3-23-14 Takanawa, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-0074, Japan

ABSTRACTIn Japan, the basic plan for promoting recycling-based society was approved in a Cabinet meeting in March, 2003,
and as a result, various measures are implemented in accordance with the plan including “3R waste disposal
promotion month” and green procurement, aiming at promoting 3Rs of wastes to advance cyclic use of resources aswell as substantial reduction of disposed wastes.
As a result of these movements, it is expected that the substantial reduction of disposed waste leads to the decreaseof the number of landfills required. But the waste to be disposed into the landfills cannot be eliminated, and thus, thelandfills are the facilities essential in our society as one of the social infrastructures.
As our society becomes recycling-based, new functions and roles are demanded for the landfills. LSA, NPO(Landfill Systems & Technologies Research Association of Japan, NPO ) has examined what the ecological landfills
based on the idea of 3Rs (Reduction, Reuse and Recycling of wastes) should be as the facilities suitable for therecycling-based society.
This paper reviews the definition of the landfills taking 3Rs of wastes into consideration, and reports the results ofinvestigations of existing literatures related to the landfills from which the issues in achieving the ecological landfills
having new roles and function have been extracted.
Keywords: Ecological landfill, 3Rs (Reduction, Reuse and Recycling) of wastes, Recycling-based society, Global
environment, Regional environment
INTRODUCTION
In Japan, the basic plan for promoting
Recycling-based society was approved in a Cabinet
meeting in March, 2003, and as a result, various
measures are implemented in accordance with the plan
including “3R waste disposal promotion month” andgreen procurement, aiming at promoting 3Rs of wastes
to advance cyclic use of resources as well as substantial
reduction of disposed wastes.
Although it is expected that the substantial reductionof disposed waste leads to the decrease of the numberof landfills required, the waste to be disposed into thelandfills cannot be eliminated, and thus, the landfills are
the facilities essential in our society as one of the social
infrastructures.
As our society becomes Recycling-based, newfunctions and roles are demanded for the landfills. LSA,
NPO (Landfill Systems & Technologies Research
Association of Japan, NPO ) has examined what theecological landfills based on the idea of 3Rs (Reduction,
Reuse and Recycling of wastes) should be as thefacilities suitable for the Recycling-based society.

This paper reviews the above theme of the landfills, andpresents the issues in achieving the ecological landfills
having new roles and functions that have been collected
and arranged from existing literatures related tolandfills.
2. CONCEPT OF ECOLOGICAL LANDFILL
1) Definition of ecological landfill
The ecological landfill is defined as “landfills suited
to the Recycling-based society” that are designed taking
into consideration the local nature, history and cultureof the site, giving low impact on the earth and theregional environment to prevent peripheral environment(such as environmental loads and landscapes) frombeing damaged by the site, and equipped with resource
recycling and storage functions, in the process from theplanning of the land use to utilization of the site after
closing1). Moreover, the following three requirements
are newly added to the above definition as shown in
Figure 1 from the viewpoint of “3Rs of wastes (＝Recycling-based society)”; the facility is to installmeasures for storing disposed solid wastes in thelandfill safely without anxiety and those for recycling
the resources, the storage and recycling are to be madetaking an economic indicator into consideration, andinformation about risks on the ambient environment is
to be disclosed and published.
The term “ecological landfill” covers the concept of
the sites for storage and recycling of the wastes as wellas “landfilling” of them.
2) Concepts of 3Rs of wastes and ecological landfill
The future waste treatment policy should be moved
ahead involving the promotion of the 3Rs of wastes andestablishment of the ecological landfills that are to berelated unambiguously to each other. This means that itis necessary to build up the policies that focus on the
future to develop the measures that will not pass on thenegative legacy for future generations.
Based on this standpoint, this paper adds the
viewpoint of “3Rs of wastes” to the idea of theecological landfills by using the indices of the spaceaxis and time axis in the discussion of positioning of
the ecological landfill.
As described in Figure 2 “Conceptual view of 3Rs ofwastes and Ecological landfill”, the space axis here is
the form of the recycling-based society, where thepromotion of the 3Rs of wastes is implemented
thoroughly to minimize the amount of the waste to bedisposed and the waste is stored to be recycled in theecological landfill that provides the space for recycling,
and thus, it is positioned as the "space for ecologicaldisposal of wastes”.
The time axis of the concept of the landfill is thetime required for storage of the waste to be disposed
properly. The wastes that are properly disposed by theecological landfill reduce their environmental load as
the time elapses, and thus, their recyclability as
resource is improved. The time is positioned as the one
needed for the process.
Moreover, to make the ecological processing ofwastes completely circulative, each of the 3Rs ofwastes are essential, and thus, their details require
reexamination and discussion in the future based on theprevious contents of the studies.
As may be known from the above description, theideas of the 3Rs of wastes and ecological landfill
involve the style of storage of wastes focusing on theera of unavailability of natural resources. However, thestorage of the waste should be made by sufficiently
examining and estimating its economic effects andtechnological development, and should never be thenest of negative legacy. Thus, the development of legal
systems with regard to the storage of the resources is an
essential issue to be examined in the future.
3. Roles and functions of ecological landfill obtained
from investigation of existing literatures related tolandfills.

We obtained knowledge and case examples of theecological landfill about their roles and function fromthe existing literatures. This chapter presents theconcepts of the ecological landfills and their issues
evolved from the investigation.
The contents of the literatures are arranged with regard
to the following ten matters; ①roles of the ecologicallandfills, ②functions of the ecological landfills, ③
evaluation of the ecological landfills, ④system of theecological landfills including pre-processing of wastes,⑤ promotion of 3Rs of wastes by the ecologicallandfills, ⑥ regional environment of the ecologicallandfills, ⑦contribution of the ecological landfills to
the global environment, ⑧ waste processing anddisposal system of the Recycling-based society, ⑨
proposal of the model of the Recycling-based society
and ⑩education for diffusion of the Recycling-basedsociety. The contents of these matters are arranged to
identify the keywords, and important subjects andissues are extracted from the results.
Based on the results of investigation of the literatures
related to the landfills, it was found that the following
subjects are to be discussed.
1) Roles of ecological landfills and future landfills
From the literatures that were investigated, thefollowing results were obtained with regard to the rolesof ecological landfills.
① Role as a storage facility: Storing wastes as
resources as well as landfilling them
② Role as an emergency disposal facility:
Accepting wastes in a time of disaster③ Role as providing an image of safety and ease ofmind: Eliminating the bad image of the facilities
by discontinuing their operations in earlier stage
The issues of the landfills that are extracted from theresults of investigation of the literatures are as
described below. The principal issues on the roles of theecological landfills include clarification of positioningof the facility, principles of setting the goals of the
facility, and development of technologies for earlier
discontinuation of the operation.
① It is necessary to use the open type facilities andclosed type facilities separately in accordancewith the purpose of disposal of wastes. It is also
necessary to reconsider the positioning oflandfills based on the viewpoint that “what kindof wastes the facility is to dispose (stabilize) andstore.”② The wastes like those generated by disasters thatare discharged much at a time cannot be sorted
out in the disaster site. Therefore, the landfills
should have a function as a temporary storage of
the wastes where they are classified andreduced.
Definition of Ecological Landfill
Landfills with waste recycling and storage functions that are designed taking into consideration, in the processfrom the planning of the land use to utilization of the site after closing, the local nature, history and culture of thesite, giving low impact on the earth and the regional environment to prevent peripheral environment (such asenvironmental loads and landscapes) from being damaged by the site, and equipped with resource recycling andstorage functions, .
cological landfills
Additional items
1) Landfill that is ①Landfill that is designed by taking ③ Landfills that can disclose proper
designedbytaking preservation of local environment into information in a timely mannerpreservation of ambient consideration④ Landfills that can widely publish
environment
into ②Landfills that have low risk on the knowledge obtained
consideration
ambient environment2) Landfill that is ①Landfill that is designed by taking
designedbytaking global warming into consideration
preservation of global ②Landfill that utilizes natural energy
environment
into effectively
consideration③Landfills that utilizes energy saving
technologies
3) Landfill that promotes ① Implementation of green purchase ③Landfill that has established priority forrecycling positively in and green procurement
the 3R of wastes policy and intermediatetheproject
and ②Utilization of matters produced by treatment of the wastes
management of the site
④ Landfill that adopts economic
recycling of wastes in the landfill
indicators to promote recycling at the best
time and place
4) Landfill that is ① Landfill that takes local residents ⑤ Landfill that promotes quicker
designedbytaking into consideration
stabilization of the site for earlier
harmonization with its ② Landfill that takes advantage of utilization of the site
ambient
area
into resources peculiar to the locality suchconsideration
as nature, history and culture③Landfill that takes local industries
into consideration④Landfill that allows utilization of the
site
after
closingbytakingharmonization with its ambient area
into consideration
5) Landfill facility that is ①Landfill that can be understood as a ③Landfill with a waste disposal systemcapable of controlling the recycling facility in the long viewthat minimizes the amount of final wastes
properties of wastes to ② Landfill that is equipped with ④ Landfill that accept recyclable solid
adapt itself to the resource storage functionwastesRecycling-based society⑤ Landfill that always incorporates thelatest maintenance and management
technologies⑥Landfill that stores wastes by taking
economic indicators into consideration
6) Landfill that performs ① Landfill that performs sound ③ Landfill that implements educationalsound operation and formulation and evaluation of project activities for proper treatment of wastes
evaluation
planning②Landfill that performs evaluation of
ecological level through the processfrom land use planning, operation andmanagement, to utilization of the site
after closing

Figure 1 Definition of ecological landfills

Concepts of 3R of wastes and ecological landfills
Form of recycling oriented society = Ecological treatment of wastes (space axis)
Consumption ofnatural resources① Reducing wastes

Production(Manufacturing,
distribution, etc.)

Consumption
anduse of products(Time axis)

Recyclability as resource③ Recycling wastes ④ Recycling heat

Designing

Envir onment protection

・Environment protection des ign
・Resource cons ervation design

・Earlier stabilization
・Insolubilization
・Eas y restoration

Construction

Putting advantagesof the site into the
loc al community

Extending service life
・Improving durability
・Repairing
・Adoption of
new technologies

Recycling
wastesPutting advantages of the site into
the local community
・Utilization of the site after closing

Discharging wastes

Recycling dug up wastes
・Low noise, low vibration
・Reduction of fuel consumption
・Reduction of res idual products
・Us e of reworked items
・Quality control

・Giving priority ofutilization of the s ite
after closing to the local
community

Resource conserva tion
・Division landfilling・Utilization of as h and s lug

Utili zation of new energy

Earlier stabilization→Repeated utilization

Prevention of global warming

Utili zation and storage→Improvement of recyclability as resource⑤Proper processing of wastes: Landfilling (Ecological landfill)・Ecological cement
・Regular cement
・Construction materials
・Resource recovery

Environment protection
and resource conservation

By-product materials
Incinerated ash, F ly as hHeat recovery

Molten slag, M elting furnace fly ash

Heat recovery

Biogas (methane gas )Unburnable res iduals (metals, glas s, etc.)
Incinerated ash, fly ash, molten s lag, melting furnace fly ash, unburnable res iduals→Landfilling

Intermediate treatment
Recycling andpre-processing of wastes
Incineration
Melt treatment
Producing biogas
Producing fertilizer and feed

Fertilizer, feed

Fracturing

Resources(paper, metal, polyethylene terephthalate, etc)

Recycling

Incinerated ash, fly as h → Cement material, molten slag → Construction m aterial, melting furnace fly ash → Resource recovery

Figure 2

Segregation, collection andtrans portation of w as tes

Reusing
wastesReducing, reusing
and recycl ing wastes①Reducing wastes

Environmental load

②Reusing wastes

Period of putting advantages of the s ite into the
local community and recycling of waste②Reusing wastes

Period of maintenance and management(beginning to dis continuation of operation)③ Recycling wastes

Period of investigation, planning, des igningand construction

Concepts of 3R of wastes and ecological landfills

③ The past landfills that dispose the wastes
inadequately are now “negative legacies” thatgive bad images of the facilities to theperipheral residents. To make the image ofpresent ecological landfills fixed as the ones thatare standard, it is necessary to develope
technologies for earlier discontinuation of theoperation.
④ As a part of a system of theresource-Recycling-based society, landfills
should change their roles substantially aiming at
protection of their environment, earlier
stabilization of the wastes, promotion ofeffective utilization of the site after closing theiroperation, ablution of wastes for reduction ofload on the leachate treatment facility,
shortening of period from closing of theoperation to disuse of the facility, clarificationof nature of the site after closing the operation,and formation of the Recycling-based society.

②

③

④

⑤

⑥

2) Functions of ecological landfills and future
landfills
From the literatures that were investigated, thefollowing results were obtained with regard to thefunctions of ecological landfills.
① Waste storage function: Storing and managing
wastes for the purpose of reusing them as
resources in the future by digging them up② Stabilization promoting function: Promoting
stabilization of waste for the purpose ofrealizing earlier discontinuation of the operationof landfills③ Environment protection function: Implementing
sufficient measures for prevention ofenvironment by performing thorough risk
management④ Function of putting advantages of the site into
the local community: Educating local residents
about disposal of wastes, disclosure of
information

⑦

⑧

⑨

⑩
⑪
⑫

The issues of the landfills that are extracted from theresults of investigation of the literatures are as
described below. The principal issues on the functionsof the ecological landfills include making the site
multifunctional,
improvementoflandfilling
technologies, clarification of positioning of the facility,
principles of setting the goals of the facility, anddevelopment of technologies for earlier discontinuationof the operation.
① Initially, the demand from the residents included
simply the construction of the civil engineering
structure. But the demand is now extended togive the facility the functions such as theenvironmental protection, putting advantages ofthe site into the local community, and residents
participation, and recently, the function that
promotes the stabilization of the wastes, storageof wastes (for future recycling) and disclosure of
information.
Problems of wastes cannot be resolved bypassive activity that simply disposes the wastes
brought into the landfill site.
Reviewing cost of intermediate treatment ofwastes and landfilling aiming at the high level
treatment of wastes
At present, reduction of the amount of landfilledwaste
issometimes
implemented
byunreasonable recycling of or control over thewastes
It is possible to return the wastes to theenvironment
bydependingofthebiodegradability of the landfill site and/or
relaxational capability of the soil.
Utilization of landfilling technologies may be
more sustainable than unreasonable reduction of
the amount of wastes to be landfilled. Achievingthat way requires improvement of thetechnologies inevitably.
Landfills that are designed suitable for controlof generation of wastes, recycling of wastes at
the time of generation, and reduction of theamount of wastes.
Sustainable landfills are the ones that aredesigned taking utilization of the site after
closing into consideration or as facilities thathave a waste recycling function.
Recycling-basedsocietydemands
multifunctional landfills, and thus, developmentof landfilling technologies that can deal withsuch demands is needed.
Preparation of landfills suited to cover wider
areas to reduce the number of landfill sites
Regeneration of closed landfills by recycling
buried wastes
Putting advantages of landfill sites into the local
community by utilizing them after closing3) Evaluation of ecological landfills and future
landfills
From the literatures that were investigated, thefollowing results were obtained with regard to theevaluations of ecological landfills.
① Functional evaluation: Evaluation of thelandfills with regard to the state of the operation(and maintenance)② Evaluation on environmental load: Evaluation
on environmental load of individual life-cycle
stages that constitute the entire system③ Evaluation on quality control and assurance:
Evaluation on the state of quality control and6assurance of landfills in the period from theplanning to the end of landfilling
The issues of the landfills that are extracted from theresults of investigation of the literatures are as
described below. The issues on the evaluation of theecological landfills include the method of objective
evaluation of landfills as ecological landfills and itemsof the evaluation.
① As it is necessary to evaluate ecological landfills
with regard to the level of ecological capabilityof the facility and the ecological functions, wewill promote establishment and operation of athird-party organization that is capable ofperforming objective evaluation.
② For proper operation of landfills, it is necessary
not only to meet minimum laws and regulations
but also to clarify the method and items ofevaluation on the capability of the facilities on
the protections of regional environment andnatural environment.

③

④

⑤

⑥

4) System of ecological landfills and future landfills
including pre-processing of wastes
From the literatures that were investigated, thefollowing results were obtained with regard to thesystems of ecological landfills.
① Stabilization system: A system that stabilizes
wastes for earlier discontinuation of theoperation of landfills② Pre-processing system: A system that performs
processing such as fracturing or irrigation ofwastes before landfilling③ Landfilling system: A system that accepts
wastes as a final disposal facility and allows
utilization for other purposes after closing.
④ Control system: A system that controls gas,
water and heat in the facility and in the layer ofwastes
The issues of the landfills that are extracted from theresults of investigation of the literatures are as
described below. The principal issues on the systems of
the ecological landfills include the waste acceptancesystem, and methodology for protection and control oflandfill environment.
① Landfills are forced to accept the wastes to belandfilled that are determined by the system on
their upstream as a “final receiver of risks”.
Some landfills are not capable of selecting
wastes to be accepted.
② It is absolutely necessary to select a civilengineering structure and a site that allow
control of natural uncertainties. Moreover,finding the risk management method forenvironment outside and inside of landfills that
require controls of gas, water and heat in the⑦facility and in the waste layer and themechanism of stabilization of the wastes,
continuously monitoring the process of thecontrol, and properly disclosing the information
can contribute much to the improvement of thesafety and transparency of the facility.
It is difficult to know the current remaining
capacity of landfills. Therefore, the landfill
operator should recognize the capacity regularly,
prepare the records and disclose the information.
Landfilling wastes with low organic matter
content or low hazardous material content
required pre-treatment of the wastes.
The cause that a landfill becomes a negative
legacy of an area is that it produces leachate
and/or gases from the landfilled matters for longtime after discontinuation of the operation.
Discontinuation of operation of a landfill in ashort period from ending of the landfilling
requires an inactivation of the landfilled matters.
To realize landfills that affects less adversely inthe following generations, it is necessary todesign facilities that are safe and give ease ofmind to the residents through pre-treatment andmanagement and utilization of the site after
closing suited to the wasted carried into them.
Present landfills are constructed using advanced
seepage control technologies, and are equippedwith excellent leakage detection systems,
repairing and other backup systems and leachate
treatment systems, which are sometimes
superfluous.

5) Promotion of 3Rs of wastes
From the literatures that were investigated, thefollowing results were obtained with regard to thepromotion of 3Rs of wastes of ecological landfills.
① Recycling of landfilled wastes: Utilizing
incineration ash as a part of materials for
producing ecological cement or regular Portland
cement② Recycling of by-product salt: Collecting
concentrated salt and refining it to produce
industrial salt, and treatment of the salt withbipolar membrane to collect acid and alkali③ Recycling of food scraps and other raw waste:
Fermentation of the materials to stabilize themwhile collecting methane gas as energy④ Utilization of wastes as civil engineering
materials: Some wastes can be made civilengineering materials through a primary
treatment using asphalt or concrete. Incineration
ash can be utilized as a civil engineering
material after an advanced treatment such as
melting7

The issues of the landfills that are extracted from theresults of investigation of the literatures are as
described below. The principal issues on the promotionof 3Rs of wastes of the ecological landfills include thestates of wastes prior to discharge, treatment of
byproducts that are difficult to utilize, and utilization ofgreen procurement.
① The treatment of wastes after they aredischarged, even if it is made properly, cannot
solve the problems of wastes essentially if noother measure is taken.
② It is necessary to review the ideal way of thewaste management including the managementof the source at upstream side of the facility.
③ Ensuring the methods of reuse of by-products
such as by-product salt that are difficult to use④ Utilizing the maximum of the green
procurements for construction of landfills

7) Protection of global environment (Preventionof global warming, utilization of natural energy,saving energy, LCA (Life Cycle Assessment)
From the literatures that were investigated, thefollowing results were obtained with regard to theprotection of global environment of ecological landfills.
① Prevention of air pollution: Atmosphereconscious operations of landfills including
practice of idling stop of vehicles used in thesites② Prevention of global warming: Effectively
utilizing methane gas generated in the landfills
to reduce environmental load resulting inpreventing the global warming③ Utilization of site after closing: Restoring thenatural environment better than the original
conditions
The issues of the landfills that are extracted from theresults of investigation of the literatures are as
described below. The principal issues on the protectionof the global environment include the lack of target
setting for reduction of the environmental load.
① Lack of target setting for control of natural
resource
consumption,
reductionofenvironmental load, and energy security.
② Nature conscious landfills are the facilities thattake energy saving operations into consideration
and utilize natural energy.

6) Protection of regional environment (Restorationof environment, participation of neighborhood,safety and ease of mind for the residents)
From the literatures that were investigated, thefollowing results were obtained with regard to theprotection of regional environment of ecologicallandfills.
① Remediation of images of landfills: Positively
utilizing the cooperation of local residents in theareas such as daily management of the facility
and monitoring of the waste collection vehicles
by reflecting their opinions and providing
information such as project planning to theneighbors② Multiple environment protection: Requiring a
multiple environment protection system thatconsists of hardware and software technologies③ Harmony with the environment: Taking action
to prepare the habitats for fish, insects, and otherlives in the landfill sites.

8) Waste treatment and disposal system ofrecycling-based society
From the literatures that were investigated, thefollowing results were obtained with regard to thewaste treatment and disposal system of recycling-basedsociety.
① General
conceptofwaste
treatment:
Establishment of a Recycling-based society
requires both recycling and proper disposal ofwastes and obtaining the consent of local
residents. The measures to be taken are desired
to totally consider generation, discharge,
recycling , intermediate treatment and final
treatment of wastes (storage).
② Control of wastes: It is important to have a pointof view of waste control paying attention to theproperties of wastes and their flow (massbalance) and conversion into resources (functionof facility)③ Reuse of landfills: Retaining landfill space
through retreatment and recycling burried solid
wastes of existing landfills④ Landfills covering broad area: Promoting
preparation of landfills that cover areas wider
than cities, towns or villages based on the
viewpoint of strengthening of management

The issues of the landfills that are extracted from theresults of investigation of the literatures are as
described below. The principal issues on the protectionof the regional environment include the need ofenvironmental
education
andpreventionofenvironmental destruction.
① Lack of environmental education for general
citizens and children② Landfills ecologically friendly to peripheral
areas are those that make full use of thecharacters of the local nature to contribute to thearea③ Enforcement of policies built of the principles
that prevents environmental destruction

8

The issues of the landfills that are extracted from theresults of investigation of the literatures are as
described below. The principal issues on the waste
treatment and disposal system of Recycling-basedsociety include the establishment of waste control
methods and development of social infrastructure suchas legal systems .
① Establishment of a Recycling-based society
requires both recycling and proper disposal ofwastes and obtaining the consent of local
residents.
② Future landfills are required not only to have thewaste disposal facility but also to be a total
system that takes into consideration the waste
management system upstream of the site and its
mode of utilization.
③ The measures that controls the properties andamount of wastes include the software andhardware. The software mainly includes thepolluter-pays
principle(PPP),
extendedproducer responsibility (EPR) and economic
approach, and the hardware mainly covers
fracturing, sorting, incineration, melting ofwastes, making fertilizer, and landfills.
④ To achieve establishment of Recycling-basedsociety, the need of material circulation isemphasized as a means of recycling. Also, it isnecessary to take a comprehensive view thatconsiders environmental protection and resource
preservation behind the need of material
circulation and 3Rs of wastes and their proper
treatment.
⑤ For the establishment of Recycling-basedsociety, an important issue is how to minimize
the final treatment system by taking into
consideration its efficiency of operation andreduction of the environmental load.
⑥ It is important to make a social system byutilizing a legal system, economic method, andecological educations and studies to get rid of
illegal dumping of wastes to lead such deed toproper treatment of wastes, and to establish atechnological system that is a social
infrastructure such as waste recycling andtreatment facilities.
⑦ To dispel resident unease, it is necessary to
make the process from generation of wastes tothe final treatment transparent, that is, torecognize the flow and conversion of wastes
quantitatively and manage the risks.
⑧ Waste recycling and treatment facilities recycles
the landfilled solid wastes to make raw materials
for products.

9) Proposal of ecological landfill models
From the literatures that were investigated, thefollowing results were obtained with regard to the
proposed models of ecological landfills.
① Early stabilization model: Burying only wastes
that can be reduced to soil in the future② Target setting: Setting quantitative target forcontrol of consumption of natural resources,
reduction of environmental load, and resourceand energy security③ Multifunctional landfill: The facilities that canbe reconciled to the local community and have a
wastestoragefunctionforrecycling(pre-treatment of wastes) and energy collecting
function
The issues of the landfills that are extracted from theresults of investigation of the literatures are as
described below. The principal issues on the proposedmodel of ecological landfills include the setting ofwastes that are allowed to bury and themultifunctionality of the facilities.
① Wastes that are allowed for final disposal are to
be designated in accordance with the mode ofutilization of the landfill (such as the utilizationof the site after closing).
② The final disposal system should be determinedby taking into consideration the waste
management system upstream and the mode ofutilization downstream of the facility.
③ The facilities that can be reconciled to the local
community, and have a waste storage function
for recycling (pre-treatment of wastes) andenergy collecting function10) Activities for promotion of broad use of
ecological landfills
From the literatures that were investigated, thefollowing results were obtained with regard to theactivities for broad use of ecological landfills.
① Educational learning programs: Providing
students with the opportunities for leaning theenvironment to make them conscious of the issues ofwastes, and positively providing press and masscommunication media with information about thefacilities② Communications with local residents for soundunderstanding of landfills③ Residents participation: Participation ofresidents into the construction process of project
including the planning and designing of the facility,
determination of the monitoring method, and otherdetails through discussion in an easily understoodmanner
The issues of the landfills that are extracted from the9results of investigation of the literatures are as
described below. The principal issues on the activities
for promotion of broad use of ecological landfills suited
to the Recycling-based society include preparation ofbasis for accepting recycled matters from the facilities.

the ecological landfills, as well as reviewing concretemodels of the facilities.
5. Acknowledgement
This paper presents some of the results of studies
conduced by LS, NPO in the fiscal year of 2007. We
express our appreciation to the members for theircooperation and lead.

4. Conclusions and future issues
The Basic law for Establishing a Recycling-BasedSociety and other waste recycling laws have been
enforced and/or amended, and in such situation, thelandfills are required to provide new functions in therecycling-based society such as being facilities that is
capableofpreserving
resources,
protecting
environment, and being accepted by the ecologicalsystem of the site and the local society.
We have reviewed the definition of the ecologicallandfill based on the viewpoint of 3Rs of wastes, andinvestigated existing literature discussing on the theme.
From the results, we extracted the knowledge and caseexamples that can be informative for reviewing theroles and function of ecological landfills to obtain theconcept and issues of the facility.

References:
1） Naoto Usui et al：” Study on Eco Landfill Sites”(Proceedings of The Fourth Asian-Pacific Landfill
Symposium in Shanghai 2006 Volume Posters)，
2006，PP.121～128

1) Concept of ecological landfill
Using the indices of space axis and time axis, we
reviewed the definition of the ecological landfill basedon the viewpoint of 3Rs of wastes.
As for the space axis, the ecological landfill isdefined as the space that allows recycling of wastes bythoroughly performing promotion of 3Rs of wastes,
driving efforts that minimize the amount of wastes to bedisposed, and storing the wastes that are properly
treated in the site, and thus, the space is positioned as“the place for ecological processing of wastes”
The time axis is the storage time that is needed for
utilization of the wastes that are properly treated asresources. Because the wastes that are properly treatedin the facilities reduce the environmental load as time
elapses, the storage time is positioned as the period
needed for improvement of recyclability of wastes as
resource.
2) Roles and functions of ecological landfill
obtained from discussions in existing literatures
The roles of the ecological landfills include storageof wastes, accepting wastes in a time of disaster, andproviding images of safety and ease of mind in theoperation. Their functions extracted from the discussion
include storing wastes, accelerating stabilization ofwastes, protection of environment, and putting
advantages of the site into the local community.
From the results of investigation of the literatures,issues are obtained from individual subjects ofdiscussion.
In the future, we are going to associate the results
and issues obtained here with the concept of theecological landfills and investigate the case examples of10