How Landfills Work

See where all your garbage goes and what we do with it! Learn what's banned from garbage and how improper disposal of items can result in landfill fires.

Learn about waste recovery and how we turn garbage into energy.

Our environmental monitoring programs prevent or reduce potential effects on groundwater, surface water, and air.

Visit the closed section of the landfill where native plants help return the area into a natural eco-system.

Waste diversion programs at the Hartland Public Drop-off Area reduce the amount of garbage that enters the landfill. Learn how to protect the environment by returning household hazardous waste.

The landfill gas monitoring program collects samples of landfill gas for analysis, monitors ambient air quality, and evaluates performance of the landfill gas collection system and gas plant efficiency.

• Hartland Landfill gas monitoring program and annual reports

Groundwater is the water found underneath the ground in spaces between rocks, sand, and soil.

Levels and quality are monitored quarterly to assess potential impacts of landfill processes and operations on groundwater.

Groundwater is monitored at over 150 stations on and off the landfill site, including 14 privately-owned domestic drinking water wells located within a 2km radius of the landfill.

• Hartland Landfill Groundwater Surface Water and Leachate Monitoring Program reports

Hartland Landfill is located within the Tod Creek watershed. Surface water flowing south from the landfill is directed to Killarney Lake and Prospect Lake, and ultimately discharges to Tod Creek. As well, surface water draining north from the landfill flows northeasterly through Heal Creek and Durrance Creek, discharging to Tod Creek and ultimately Tod Inlet.

Surface water diversion ditches are used to redirect clean runoff from the natural areas adjacent to the landfill to minimize the amount of leachate that is generated within the landfill. Water that is diverted and existing drainage courses on the landfill property and downstream of the landfill are monitored to ensure that water quality is not affected by landfilling operations.

• Hartland Landfill Groundwater Surface Water and Leachate Monitoring Program reports

Leachate is the liquid that forms from rainwater and groundwater moving through landfilled garbage. To limit the amount of leachate created, closed parts of the landfill are capped or covered with tarps so that water does not move through garbage and is instead diverted away. When leachate is generated, it is captured and drains to one of two leachate lagoons located onsite. Leachate is tested before being discharged from the site via a pipeline to the sanitary sewer.

Leachate monitoring is used to determine the volume of leachate discharged and flow rates to the sanitary sewer. The CRD's SCADA data collection system provides continuous automated monitoring of the volume of leachate discharged. Leachate testing is conducted monthly to characterize the chemical constituents present in the leachate and assess compliance with the CRD Sewer Use Bylaw.

• Hartland Landfill Groundwater Surface Water and Leachate Monitoring Program reports

In 2003, a landfill gas-to-electricity plant was built next to the flare station to utilize the methane in the landfill gas to produce electricity. The facility contains a reciprocating engine which works very much like a car engine, except instead of gasoline, methane is the fuel. Mechanical energy is turned into electrical energy. The electricity produced is fed into the existing BC Hydro distribution system on-site. The facility produces close to 1.6 megawatts of green power – enough electricity to supply about 1,600 homes. In 2012, a site specific Landfill Gas Management Plan (LFGMP) was approved which detailed a strategy for capturing landfill gas and meeting collection targets set by the BC Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy. The Plan includes installation, operation and maintenance of collection infrastructure and routine reporting. As a result, landfill gas collection has increased significantly and greenhouse gas emissions have been reduced by approximately 50% since 2011. Collection infrastructure continues to be installed in accordance with the LFGMP. 

The volume of landfill gas collected at Hartland has exceeded the capacity of the current landfill gas utilization plant producing clean electricity. The equipment is also reaching its end of life. As a result, the CRD has evaluated two enhanced utilization alternatives: upgrading landfill gas to Renewable Natural Gas (a carbon neutral form of biogas) for sale to FortisBC or expanding the capacity of the current plant to produce more electricity. How the CRD decides to maximize landfill gas for public benefit can have both environmental and financial benefits for the community. It also fosters a greater circular economy, using waste to generate energy.

• Hartland Renewable Natural Gas Initiative