Sanitary Landfilling

This is a method of disposing of refuse on land without creating nuisances or hazards to public health or safety. Careful preparation of the fill area and control of water and drainage are required to assure proper landfilling. To confine the refuse to the smallest practical area and reduce it to the smallest practical volume; heavy tractor-like equipment is used to spread, compact and cover the waste daily, usually with at least six inches of compacted soil or other fill material. After the area has been completely filled and covered with a final two to three foot layer of soil, it is allowed to settled for an appropriate period of time.

Following the closure of the landfill the reclaimed land may be turned into a recreational area such as a park or a golf course. The land may also be used as a plot on which buildings may be constructed under strictly controlled conditions.

Mangrove Pond Landfill

The Mangrove Pond Landfill, the landfill site currently in operation is nearing the end of its lifespan. This landfill was the first of its type in Barbados to be fitted with a clay liner and leachate collection system. Over the years there have been many social issues arising out of the operation and management of the Mangrove Pond Landfill. Inadequacy of resources, which in the past had plagued its operations, gave rise to nuisances such as fires and offensive odours. In recent time however the management of the landfill has improve considerably. Landfilling activities at Mangrove Pond will cease when the new National Sanitary Landfill at Greenland becomes operational.

National Sanitary Landfill

The new landfill at Greenland is situated on a site that had been previously used as a quarry. The site which covers about 13.8 ha., has been designed and engineered to have an estimated lifespan of about twenty years. The Greenland landfill is a sanitary engineered landfill.

Bagatelle Bulky Waste Landfill

The solid waste disposal site at Bagatelle, St. Thomas is used for the disposal of "bulky" types of waste, such as building material, rubble, scrap automobiles and non-combustible items such as old appliances which comprise a significant proportion of the solid waste stream. These items are not normally prone to producing odours, or large amounts of leachate with contaminants of environmental or health concerns and, as such, the requirements and constraints for disposing of bulky waste are less demanding than those for other constituents of the waste stream.

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