Characteristics of leachates from a municipal solid waste composting plant in Kalamata city, Greece

This study deals with the characteristics of leachates from a municipal solid waste composting plant in Kalamata city, Greece. The composting plant has been in operation for about two years and treats the total quantity of the municipal solid waste of Kalamata city. Fifteen samplings every three days have been taken and various pollution parameters have been estimated. The results indicated that leachates from this plant are highly polluted with the mean COD and BOD sub(5) values being 107800 and 54400 mg/l, respectively. The results indicated that leachates are also characterized by high inogranic load, with mean N-NH sub(3) and Cl super(-) values of 2660 and 6440 mg/l, respectively. From the overall results it can be said that the leachates constitute a major environmental problem and must be taken into careful consideration.