Abstract
Growing population, industrialization and infrastructure development have resulted in enormous
waste generation over the past decades. The disposal of vast amounts of waste remains a major challenge.
However, in the globalized world recycling has become a main option for managing wastes while in other parts
of the globe, landfilling is resorted to because of waste handling difficulties. South Africa is one of many
countries where landfilling activities is high, as roughly 75 % of daily generated solid waste is disposed in
landfills. This includes massive amounts of construction and demolition wastes (CDW) from reconstruction
and development activities. South Africa depends on landfilling as a system of waste management which in the
foreseeable future would linger on till feasible recycling options are initiated. Consequentially, the generation
and seepage of leachate into soil, ground and surface water reserves is probable in such dump sites due to
exposure of the waste bodies to rain and run-off water. A bespoke device was used in the study to investigate
the impacts of disposing CDW in open dumps with mind for an unlined site relying on the geology of the area
as worst case scenario. To generate leachate, the device was coupled with CDW in a bottom chamber and
de-ionized water seeped through from a reservoir. Arsenic, Copper and Chromium from the generated leachate
were analyzed by full spectral method on the effluent and were compared to South African standard of drinking
water. Although, concentration levels of the targeted ions decreased through the test, it was clear that if CDW is
not properly disposed, could contribute to consequential impacts on human and environmental health over time.
Keywords Leachate, Landfill, Construction and Demolition Waste, Bespoke device.