Spontaneous Dump of the Village of Vasilyevka, Alamedin District, Chui Region
Unauthorized landfills are one of the significant factors of pollution, negatively impacting natural components: the atmosphere, water sources, soil, and the plant and animal world. By being placed directly on the soil cover, landfills remove a significant portion of land from agricultural circulation and the biosphere, introducing pollutants into them.
When waste placed in unauthorized landfills ignites, toxic and harmful substances are released into the atmosphere. Atmospheric precipitation washes heavy metals and other substances from the landfill body, which, by contaminating the soil, penetrate into surface waters. With prolonged storage in landfill layers, biogas begins to form, the main components of which are flammable methane and carbon dioxide. Unauthorized landfills are breeding grounds for insects and rats, active carriers of infection.
Unauthorized landfills occupy a place in the system of environmental monitoring as sources of impact on all components of the environment.
An important feature of this source of environmental pollution is its spatial and temporal variability, both in volume and composition. Landfills are dangerous sources of environmental pollution, primarily affecting soils, surface and groundwater, as well as the animal and plant world.
The greatest danger is posed by landfills located in water protection zones of water bodies, floodplains of rivers, low-lying areas (gullies, ravines), in places where drinking water wells are located, and on agricultural fields.
The size of spontaneous landfills is increasing at a catastrophic rate. They consume land, lead to the death of local flora and fauna, expand to the nearest settlements, and poison people. The irrational, outdated, and immoral policies of local authorities and capital officials in the field of waste collection and disposal have resulted in thousands of semi-spontaneous dumps operating in Kyrgyzstan. All of them do not meet modern requirements for the organization of such facilities. Dozens of hectares of beautiful and invaluable land have been allocated for landfills.
This point has been marked as part of a research project, the pilot program "Improving the Efficiency of the Waste Collection and Recycling System in the Kyrgyz Republic - WasteNet.Kg," implemented by the "CSO Central Asia" Agency with the support of the International Fund "The Coca-Cola Foundation." This publication does not necessarily reflect the views of the Pilot Project "WasteNet.Kg."
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