Save on Landfill Capping with Voucher Codes
A landfill should obviously not be the first choice for any business, efforts should first be made to reduce, reuse, and recycle. However some businesses still need to deal with hazardous materials out of necessity, and those must be disposed of properly to make sure that they don’t contaminate the surrounding area. Today we’ll go over safe landfill capping, and how to save on the materials you need by using voucher codes.
Why is proper landfill capping important?
If your business must make use of a landfill, then it is vitally important that you cap it properly. Not only does this protect surrounding plant life, wildlife, and humans from coming into contact with potentially hazardous materials, it also means that the land could be used for other purposes in the future. Capped landfill sites have become parking lots, sites for new building construction and even parkland. If a landfill site is not properly capped then you risk seepage and contamination which can lead to illness and even death for plants, animals, and humans. It can also render nearby land toxic and unusable for decades. If it gets into a water supply, then the consequences can be even more dire. It really can’t be stated strongly enough that care must be taken to ensure proper and safe landfill capping.
Use voucher codes to save on construction materials
Although safety is our primary concern here, it doesn’t mean that budget has to go out the window. A well constructed landfill cap will be comprised of several layers including clay, a geomembrane, a drainage layer of sand and/or gravel, and either a vegetative layer (grass, for example) or concrete to top it off depending on what purpose the site will be used for afterwards. All of these materials can be expensive, especially if they are not readily available in your local area or you have a large area to cover. However by using discount codes or coupons when making your purchase you can save a great deal on the materials. If it’s a relatively small area you are looking to cover, you should be able to get everything you need from a home improvement store such as Lowe’s or Wickes. If it’s quite a large area you may want to consider getting in touch with a wholesaler and seeing what their minimum order sizes are. Their prices will typically be lower than what you find in a retail store.
How does a landfill cap work?
By providing several layers of protection over the site you can ensure that you protect agains the elements and keep the materials safe. A good cap will prevent strong winds from blowing any contaminated materials to nearby areas, and keeping heavy amounts of water from rainfall, snow melt, stormwater runoff from carrying contaminants into the local groundwater. This can be a very dangerous situation if it were to contaminate a local water source used for drinking or that is an important ecosystem. Some landfill caps may also have venting systems, so that if the material stored at the site produce methane or other gases they can be released safely.
How to construct an effective landfill cap
The amount of layers required in capping a landfill is going to depend on the contamination level of the material being buried. If it’s only lightly contaminated you may only require one or two layers. However if it’s particularly dangerous you should go with four layers. It’s recommended that the first layer on top of the contaminated materials is a layer of clay, as this is quite effective at preventing water from draining into the contaminated soil. From there you will want to place a geomembrane over top. This is a layer of plastic-like material. It performs double duty as it also prevents downward drainage of water, and facilitates the upwards release of gases. On top of that you will place a drainage layer of sand and gravel. This is the first line of defence against water drainage, and you will usually find rows of slotted pipes in here to help facilitate draining water away from the contaminated area. Finally you will place a layer of either vegetative materials such as grass, or pour concrete or asphalt on top if you plan on using the area for parking or building. The top layer is responsible for preventing erosion and just improving the aesthetic quality of the landfill site.
Refer to the EPA if you have any questions
If you are unsure about anything it’s always best to ask. As I mentioned at the beginning a landfill site isn’t the most ideal solution, but for some types of businesses it’s currently the best one we have. Always do testing to make sure your landfill doesn’t go deep enough to reach the water table, and don’t cut corners on your landfill capping once it’s full.
