Solid Waste Landfill Design

Learn about the critical factors of solid waste landfill design, operations, evolving industry issues, and economics. Learn from expert and diverse course faculty (top-flight researchers, owners at the cutting edge of evolving practice, industry experts). Get a firm grasp of the background and design specifics to compete in this industry, including industry-leading information on the principles and practices of solid waste landfill development, design, construction, operations, and management. Understand practical emerging technologies including

•  financial management of solid waste systems and airspace management
• on-and off-site leachate treatment
• landfill gas containment and management for emissions control and regulatory drivers
• slope stability analysis and regulatory review
• waste relocation and expansion
• landfill design sets
• evolving issues, such as "hot: landfills, "black goo", and PFAS
• the latest in geosynthetic products for geoenvironmental engineering
• landfill closures and post-closure use options

• Civil engineers and landfill designers
• Landfill owners and operators
• Local, county, and state regulatory agency staff and officials
• Public works professionals and municipal engineers
• Geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineers
• Geological engineers, hydrogeologists, and geoscientists
• Facility managers with on-site disposal cells
• Contractors and estimators
• Geosynthetic manufacturers and product representative
• Planners

This course will guide you through the development process of a successful solid waste landfill, from cradle to grave. Industry experts will share critical factors and insights.  Interactive discussion and idea exchange will be emphasized. Learn more and enroll today.

A Brief History of Solid Waste Management and Design 

• Introduction and course goals
• Evolving contaminants, risks, and opportunities
• Evolving standards-of-practice and performance based design

Keynote: Financial Management of a Solid Waste System 

• Solid waste economics
• Evolving revenue streams and value-added processes
• Planning financial outlays and tipping fee impacts
• New technologies for metrics tracking, airspace management and analysis (compaction rates, equipment usage)
• Planning for expansion (vertical and horizontal, greenfield sites
• Investigating Hydrogeologic Conditions and Groundwater Monitoring

• Borrow Source Investigation and Compacted Clay Liners 
• Class Activity
• Geometric Design and Liquid Management Systems 
• Elevated Temperature Landfills 

Tuesday, April 8, 2025

• Leachate Treatment
• Geosynthetic Design for Containment Systems
• Final Covers and Post-closure Use Options
• Black Goo, What is it and What to do About It
• Landfill Drainage and Runoff Control 
• Waste Relocations and Vertical Expansions 
• Management of PFAS in Leachate and Landfill Liquids
• Slope Stability Approach, Calculations, and Reporting

Wednesday, April 9, 2025

• Keynote:  Landfill Gas from State-of-Practice to State-of-Art
• Gas Collection and Managing Air Emissions
• Developing a Sustainable Waste Management Campus
• Tour of Dane County Landfill and Biogas Facilities 

"It was an awesome course! Highly recommend."
—Hailey Fitterer, HDR, Inc.

"Extremely helpful to get a taste of so much!"
—Nigel Baummer, HDR, Inc

"Wasn’t expecting this much pertinent information as a geologist and was pleasantly surprised."
—T.J. Daniel, Bunnell-Lammons Engineering

"Great information, networking, and references. Too often, binders/slide handouts are useless once back in the office, not the case here."
—Jason Hinds, FMG Engineering, Rapid City, SD

"Great technical discussions that gave reasons behind technical requirements and regulations."
—Noah Watt, Waste Management

"(Elevated Temperature Landfills) very, very informative. Big issue with clients, so truly helpful."
—Christian Kessler, WCGRP

"Very good topics presented by very qualified instructors. The course provides current relevant information for regulators, consultants, and landfill operators."
—Brent Luebbe, NE Dept. of Envir. Quality

"I thoroughly enjoyed this course and will recommend it to colleagues in the future."
—Aaron Lowell, Civil and Environmental Consultants

"I really enjoyed the course. Learning everything from the liner to the final cover systems definitely makes me more confident in looking through a plan set."
—Nick Dykstra, Cornerstone Environmental Group LLC

"Great overall course for all aspects of landfill design from permitting to closure."
—Rochelle Staples, Stantec Consulting Ltd.

"I came with a breadth of knowledge gained from 2 years of experience.  This class expanded the breadth and added depth."
—Spenser Harveg, Parkhill, Smith & Cooper

Craig Benson

Craig H. Benson, PE, PhD, NAE, and former Dean, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA (and emeritus professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison), has extensive expertise in the discipline referred to as geoenvironmental engineering. This discipline is at the interface of the built and natural environments and deals with issues in the subsurface or interactions between conditions at the earth’s surface and the subsurface. In most cases, the important objective is to protect soil and ground water or to engineer systems that reduce emissions or save energy. His research in geoenvironmental engineering fits in three broad classes: design and assessment of environmental containment systems for municipal, hazardous, and radioactive wastes; reuse and recycling of industrial byproducts for sustainable construction applications; and sustainability assessment of geological and civil engineering systems.

C. Lee Daigle

Lee Daigle is a registered professional engineer in civil engineering with 25 years of experience in the landfill gas industry. Mr. Daigle started his career as an intern at a municipal solid waste landfill in Colonie, New York while attending Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. While interning, he was fully immersed in the operations, maintenance, and construction of landfill gas collection and control systems, which instilled him with a passion for the industry. Upon graduation, Mr. Daigle continued to focus on landfill gas, and expanded his expertise in landfill gas utilization feasibility assessment, design, regulatory compliance, construction, and operations. Mr. Daigle has worked on landfill gas collection systems in over 30 states/territories, three Canadian provinces, and several countries abroad. He has been responsible for the initial start-up and monitoring of collection and control systems and has performed data analysis and interpretation to assist in optimizing overall landfill gas system performance. He also performed construction management and construction quality assurance (CQA) services during the installation of numerous landfill gas extraction and treatment systems, giving him a strong understanding of the construction issues associated with the implementation of cost-effective landfill gas system designs. Since 2011, Mr. Daigle has expanded his practice into all areas of solid waste design including the design and permitting of municipal solid waste cells and closures. Recently, Mr. Daigle has been elected to the Solid Waste Association of North America's Board of Directors, Wisconsin Badger Chapter and currently serves as Vice President of the board

Paula Leier-Engelhardt

Principal, HydroGeo Solutions LLC, Little Suamico, WI

Betsy Powers

Senior Project Manager/Civil Engineer, SCS Engineers, Madison, WI

Kenneth Quinn

Technical Director, Hydrogeologist, TRC Companies, Madison, WI

Krishna Reddy

Professor, University Scholar & Distinguised Researcher, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL

James Tinjum

Mark Torresani

Vice President/Engineer, Cornerstone Environmental Group, LLC, Madison, WI

Amanda Wade

Amanda Wade is a Solid Waste Program Manager for TRC. She is an expert in state and federal requirements for solid waste management including landfill design, construction, and operations as well as general solid waste permitting criteria. Spanning over 24 years, she has overseen and/or designed numerous solid waste liner and closure projects ranging in complexity from rural municipal landfills to papermill landfills and ultimately to large-scale commercial facilities. She has also permitted numerous solar-on-landfill projects in Massachusetts. Amanda spent the first 15 years of her career with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (MDEP) as a member of the Solid Waste Engineering Unit. Since leaving the MDEP, she has worked as a consultant, managing, and serving as the Engineer of Record for numerous solid waste facilities throughout New England. She currently serves as President for the Northern New England Chapter of SWANA and is Vice Chair of the Environmental Business Council of New England (EBC) Solid Waste Management Committee.

John Welch

John Welch, PE, Director of Waste and Renewables, Dane County, Madison, WI. John is an experienced Owner/Manager with a demonstrated history of achieving positive results in the solid waste industry. John is skilled in management and operation of landfills, HHW facilities, transfer stations, C&D MRFs, and biogas facilities. John is a licensed Professional Engineer with a degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Paul Wintheiser

AECOM, Sheboygan, WI