lenfouissement

Lenfouissement, or l’enfouissement, is the disposal of waste by burial in the ground, typically within an engineered facility designed to isolate waste from the environment. The term comes from the French enfouir, meaning to bury. In modern practice, it mainly refers to landfilling as a method for managing municipal solid waste and some non-hazardous industrial wastes.

Modern landfills are designed with containment and monitoring in mind. Key elements usually include liners to prevent leachate from seeping into soil and groundwater, leachate collection systems, daily or regular soil cover, and systems to capture and manage landfill gas, notably methane. Waste is received, sorted to a limited extent, compacted, and covered, with end-of-life closure followed by long-term environmental monitoring to detect any potential impacts.

Environmental and health considerations are central to the practice. Risks include methane emissions, leachate formation that could contaminate water supplies, odors, and potential habitat disruption. Proper design, operation, and post-closure care mitigate these risks, while landfills can also provide energy recovery opportunities through captured biogas.

Regulation and policy aim to minimize reliance on landfilling by promoting reduction, reuse, and recycling, and by ensuring safe siting, operation, and post-closure management. In many regions, the term encompasses both regulated sanitary landfills and obsolete or controlled sites formerly known as décharges.

Historically, enfouissement evolved from unregulated dumps to engineered facilities in the 20th century, reflecting growing concern for environmental protection and public health.