Global Alliance Open Innovation Challenge: Solidification of Leachate Concentration

DCLM (operated by Veolia) would like to find more environmentally friendly and economically viable ways to solidify the concentrate of their effluent treatment plant. They are seeking solutions utilising innovative solidification agents that can deal with large and increasing volumes of concentrate. Solutions are invited from, but not limited to, the following sectors:

• Waste management
• Transport
• Water
• Environmental services
• Manufacturing
• Chemistry
• Engineering
• Industrial biology

DCLM operates a hazardous waste landfill site and one of the challenges of landfill sites is the production of leachate. Leachate is produced when water percolates through the waste disposal site, accumulating the contaminants, which creates the highly concentrated hazardous liquid. The leachate must be effectively treated by concentration and solidification, and accommodate larger volume increases as the landfill capacity increases.

DCLM are seeking practical, feasible, and economically viable ways to solidify the concentrated leachate from the effluent treatment plant, comprising approx. 8750m3 per annum. These solutions should aim to solidify the concentrate utilising innovative solidification agents (alternatives to the current agents: ash and lime) in an environmentally friendly way. The goal is to effectively block any toxins from causing ground contamination.

DCLM will provide current leachate analysis for technical specs (requiring NDA). Following solidification, innovative methods of concentrate valorisation would be particularly welcome for industry use. Using any by-products from alternate industries will produce higher value solutions in terms of business responsibility.

The current treatment process removes impurities and suspended solids, thereby separating the leachate into a permeate stream and a concentrate which contains the hazardous impurities removed, as per the diagram below.

The concentrate composition is variable depending on the waste streams involved. However, the salinity remains about the same. Samples, full spectrum analysis and further information on the treatment process are available upon request (requires NDA agreement).

Separation processes are of interest if they can generate industrial value. A Circular Economy perspective would be most valuable as the ability to reuse, repurpose or recycle into another value change would create a genuine difference. The game changing waste industry innovation would be the creation of a fraction or process ingredient that reduces reliance on natural resources.

The focus of this challenge is to solidify the concentrate. However, solutions involving water treatment to make the extracted water (from Treatment Plant to sewerage system) viable as drinking water would also be considered alongside the primary intervention.

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