Variations and environmental impacts of odor emissions along the waste stream

Odor nuisance related to municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal is one of the main incentives to counter the Not-In-My-Backyard Syndrome. Moreover, integrated odor management contributes to specific odor control at different waste treatment stages. In this study, odor emissions along typical MSW streams were categorized based on their olfactive and environmental impacts after a field investigation of the residential district (RD), transfer station (TS), and landfill (LF) in the Chongming Eco-island. It was found that odorants, especially NH3 and sulfides, increased along the MSW stream, with total chemical concentration increasing from 1241.5 ± 235.6 to 6947.2 ± 1726.8 μg/m3. Source separation and co-landfill system, which premixes the MSW with bottom ash (BA) at a ratio of 5:1, were speculated to efficiently attenuate odorants. Sulfides reduced owing to an increase in trace metal dissolution and carbon source consumption with the addition of BA at the LF, whereas NH3 in the leachate pond increased due to enhanced biodegradation and alkalinity. Photochemical ozone formation (6.7 × 10−8–8.6 × 10−5 personal equivalent, PE), nutrient enrichment (5.4 × 10−8–4.6 × 10−5 PE), and acidification (4.8 × 10−8–4.1 × 10−5 PE) were the major environmental impact categories. The priority odor pollutants screened using ternary fuzzy synthetic system could reflect the impact of olfaction and environment and greatly varied along the waste stream.