Distribution and characteristics of heavy metals in a first-generation monofill site for incinerator residue

Highlights: • A first-generation monofill site for MSW incinerator residue has been investigated. • Full scale bore-hole samples were profiled. • A comparison between measured data with actual historical records has been conducted. • Cu, Pb and Zn presented higher mobility than Cr and Cd in the landfill site. -- Abstract: This study investigated core samples from a landfill site for incinerator residue. The landfill site is one of the first monofill sites for municipal solid waste incinerator residue in the world. The concentrations of the heavy metals Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Zn, and Ni in the landfilled incinerator residues were 1–108, 41–926, 40–5498, 35–9806, 103–11453, and 25–719 mg/kg, respectively. Based on comparisons of heavy metal contents between raw incinerator fly ash and bottom ash reported in the literature, our samples comprised a mixture of incinerator fly ash and bottom ash. Rainfall had removed the dissolvable salts from the incinerator residues. The compositions of incinerator residues from different locations varied markedly. The vertical distribution showed a high heavy metal content in the waste layers, suggesting no vertical movement of heavy metals in this landfill site. A comparison between the experimental data and data calculated from historic records of the original metal compositions of the incinerator residues suggested high mobility of Zn, Cu, and Pb and low mobility of Cr and Cd. This trend was supported by a leaching test of waste layer samples. Zn and Cu were leached more readily at pH 9.0–10.0 and 10.5–11.5, respectively.