The by-products of solid waste deposited in a landfill has adverse effects on the surrounding environment and humans living closer to landfill sites. This study sought to test the hypothesis that the deposition of waste on landfill has an impact on the surrounding environment and residents living closer to it. This was achieved by evaluating the perception of the respondents drawn from people living close (100–500 m) and far (1–2 km) from the landfill site, concerning environmental issues, health problems, and life satisfaction. Results from the study showed that 78% of participants living closer to the landfill site indicated serious contamination of air quality evident from bad odours linked to the landfill site. Illnesses such as flu, eye irritation and weakness of the body were frequently reported by participants living closer to the landfill than those living far from the landfill. More than half of the participants (56%) living closer to the landfill indicated fear of their health in the future. Thus, the participants living closer to the landfill site were less satisfied with the location of their community with respect to the landfill, than those living far from the landfill site. Therefore, the need for a landfill gas (LFG) utilisation system, proper daily covering of waste and odour diluting agents are necessary to reduce the problems of the residents living closer to the landfill site.

This review evaluates the current Landfill Gas (LFG) utilisation technology across Africa and gives general overview on the global context. With the increase in global Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), the world has embraced landfilling to be its major way of MSW management. About 85% of the world's MSW is deposited in landfills. This has brought increased concerns of gases emitted from landfill sites. These gases have contributed enormously to the global anthropogenic Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission which are detrimental to the world's environmental media. Although significant progress has been made on the utilization of landfill gases but this is limited to some developed countries, while in Africa, there has been limited strategies and control of LFG emissions. This review spotted several reasons that could have influenced the low development of LFG utilisation in Africa as ranging from lack of skilled expertise, inadequate knowledge of the technology involved, lack of political will, inadequate funding for LFG utilization projects and monopoly of the power sector among others. It is recommended that urgent attention should be given to LFG utilisation as it can aid in acquiring carbon credits, reduction in obnoxious smell and odours, and provide the much-needed energy which is crippling the economy in Africa as well as reducing the consequences associated with the release of greenhouse gases to the environment.

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The government-accredited GA 2000 landfill gas analyzer was used to monitor the landfill gas (methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2)) generated from the subsurface of a landfill. Eighteen gas sample probes were constructed and placed approximately 100 m apart on the boundaries of the landfill site. The monitoring of the gases was conducted over a period of two years, taking into consideration the different seasons of the year. Results from the study show that as the LFG migrates toward the boundaries of the landfill in the subsurface, higher CO2 levels are recorded when compared to CH4. This could be a result of the oxidation process and some other factors present in the landfill. CH4 emissions ranged from 0.54 to 2.22% v/v in 2020. For the year 2021, the CH4 concentration ranged from 0.24% v/v to 2.33% v/v. In addition, the CO2 concentration for the year 2020 ranged from 4.66 to 6.37% v/v. In the year 2021, the CO2 concentration ranged from 3.5 to 6.56% v/v. Furthermore, higher gaseous concentrations were found in the surrounding active cells, where there is currently deposition of municipal solid waste (MSW). However, the monitoring probes situated in areas far away from the landfill recorded lower gaseous levels. This study recommends that there should be continuous monitoring of the LFG emission from the Thohoyandou landfill due to the different results obtained over the temporal variation. Frequent monitoring will help prevent the potential risk of fire hazards and pollution in the future.

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