Landfill Mining – Case Study: Resource Potential of a Styrian Sanitary Landfill Site

One possibility for exploitation of secondary raw materials represents landfill mining, as landfill sites can containsignificant amounts of potentially recyclable and recoverable energy materials (REM). Therefore, to estimate the secondary raw material potential (resource potential) of Austrian sanitary landfills, one landfill site was chosen for closer investigation based on defined criteria (e.g. infrastructure).The scope of this investigation constituted a waste characterization by realization of sieving and sorting analyses. Based on the idea of winning potential secondary raw materials out of old landfill bodies, it is assumed that especially metals, glass, minerals and a fraction with a high net calorific value are qualified for recycling and recovery.