ABSTRACT
ELENA CRISTINA RADA, IRINA AURA ISTRATE, MARCO RAGAZZI, GIANNI ANDREOTTOLA, and VINCENZO TORRETTA
8.1 INTRODUCTION
The leachate generated by municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills contains a high level of organic and inorganic pollutants arising from the biological and physical-chemical processes within the controlled landfills. Leachate treatment is difficult, for a number of reasons [1]:
• High concentrations of organic and inorganic pollutants; • Variability of the characteristics of the leachate over time, accord-
ing to the dynamics of the biological degradation of the waste in the landfill (quality fluctuation) and the precipitation and other
hydrological balance factors, such as surface runoff, evapotranspiration, field capacity of the landfill, etc. (quantitative fluctuation).
