Daily cover
The daily cover on an operational landfill site is the layer of compressed soil or earth which is laid on top of a day's deposition of waste. Benefits of using daily cover include:
- Reduction of odor and air emissions
- Control of disease vectors
- Improved surface stability for landfill vehicles
- Control of litter
- Reduction of leachate generation
- Fire prevention
Federal regulations in the United States require a minimum of six inches of daily cover to be used at the end of each day.
While soils are the traditional materials employed in daily cover, alternative daily cover options such as "green waste", mixtures of paper sludge, tire derived aggregate and geosynthetic membranes have displayed mechanical characteristics desirable for daily cover. When compared to traditional soil layers, the paper sludge paste was 2–3 times lighter, at least two orders of magnitude less permeable, and comparable in shear strength.