SALT's complete landfill remediation and sustainability solution consists of three processes:
With assistance from the National Research Council of Canada, SALT has developed a process to manufacture durable products from the remaining materials (co-mingled plastics, glass, rubber, carpet, etc.). Items such as utility poles, railway ties, marine wharves and landscaping products can be manufactured in many shapes or sizes. The products are exceptionally cost-effective, impervious to erosion, non-toxic, and exhibit high tensile and flexural characteristics.
When the aerobic cycle has completed, the site can be excavated using open pit mining techniques. Composted material is removed and recyclable materials (metals etc.) can be recovered. Any hazardous materials such as batteries, propane cylinders and chemical drums can then be disposed of appropriately.
Aerobic Bioreactor
Mining & Classification
Product Manufacturing
Aerobic Process
Mining & Separation
Manufacturing
Well Drilling
Traditional landfills are anaerobic by design (oxygen deprived) and pose environmental risks to air, water and land through methane gas emissions, intense odour production and leachate generation. (Leachate is a nasty-smelling landfill liquid which often contaminates groundwater). Anaerobic decomposition is extremely slow and anaerobic landfills are merely long-term garbage tombs.
SALT's aerobic process dramatically changes the condition of an anaerobic landfill. A series of vertical wells are drilled to various depths in order to inject both air and moisture (leachate may be captured and used as the moisture source). Existing anaerobic bacteria quickly perish and are replaced with aerobic bacteria, which rapidly decompose the organics.
The environmental benefits are immediate. Methane production ceases within 2 to 3 weeks and odours are virtually eliminated. Organics are decomposed in 24 to 36 months. Over this period of time, leachate is vastly improved and significantly reduced in volume. As well, the site will visibly "slump" as a result of compaction, recapturing up to 30% of the original airspace. The process can be applied to both operating and closed landfills.
SALT Inc.
Sustainable Aerobic Landfill Technologies