Municipal solid waste (MSW) is one of the most common wastes that need disposal. However, landfilling is still the most commonly practiced method of waste disposal, but it poses great threats to the environment. This article will look at the major environmental effects of landfilling with a focus on Pakistan and Balochistan province in particular. Emerging projects related to improvement of waste management systems in these areas will also be discussed together with the existing solid waste management challenges. Groundwater pollution, emission of landfill gases to air and adverse effects of poor waste handling on human health and other living organisms are some of the issues that shall be covered in this review. Additionally, advancements in waste-to-energy technologies, recycling initiatives, and community-based waste management efforts aimed at mitigating these impacts shall also be considered as possible solutions in order to achieve the sustainability development goals including SDG 3 (good health and well-being), SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation), SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities), SDG 12 (responsible consumption and production), SDG 13 (climate action), SDG 14 (life below water) and SDG 15 (life on land).

Waste landfills, organic wastes, Balochistan, infrastructure, regulatory gaps.

https://doi.org/10.58396/gbm020201 

[1]    Nanda, S. and Berruti, F., “Municipal solid waste management and landfilling technologies: A review,” Environmental Chemistry Letters, 19(2), 1433-1456, 2021.

[2]    Mor, S. and Ravindra, K., “Municipal solid waste landfills in lower-and middle-income countries: Environmental impacts, challenges and sustainable management practices,” Process Safety and Environmental Protection, 174, 510-530, 2023.

[3]    Ma, S., Zhou, C., Pan, J., Yang, G., Sun, C., Liu, Y. and Zhao, Z., “Leachate from municipal solid waste landfills in a global perspective: Characteristics, influential factors and environmental risks,” Journal of Cleaner Production, 333, 130234, 2022.

[4]    Duan, Z., Scheutz, C. and Kjeldsen, P., “Trace gas emissions from municipal solid waste landfills: A review,” Waste Management, 119, 39-62, 2021.

[5]    Lindamulla, L., Nanayakkara, N., Othman, M., Jinadasa, S., Herath, G. and Jegatheesan, V., “Municipal solid waste landfill leachate characteristics and their treatment options in tropical countries,” Current Pollution Reports, 8(3), 273-287, 2022.

[6]    Iravanian, A. and Ravari, S. O., Types of contamination in landfills and effects on the environment: A review study. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science. UK: IOP Publishing, 614, 012083, 2020.

[7]    Palaniandy, P., Aziz, H. A., Wang, L. K., “Michael Terlecky Jr, P. and Hung, Y. T., Sanitary Landfill Types and Design. Solid Waste Engineering and Management. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2, 543-597, 2022.

[8]    El-Saadony, M. T., Saad, A. M., El-Wafai, N. A., Abou-Aly, H. E., Salem, H. M., Soliman, S. M. and AbuQamar, S. F., “Hazardous wastes and management strategies of landfill leachates: A comprehensive review,” Environmental Technology & Innovation, 31, 103150, 2023.

[9]    Wang, J. and Qiao, Z., “A comprehensive review of landfill leachate treatment technologies,” Frontiers in Environmental Science, 12, 1439128, 2024.

[10] Siddiqua, A., Hahladakis, J. N. and Al-Attiya, W. A. K., “An overview of the environmental pollution and health effects associated with waste landfilling and open dumping,” Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 29(39), 58514-58536, 2022.

[11] Al-Wabel, M. I., Ahmad, M., Rasheed, H., Rafique, M. I., Ahmad, J. and Usman, A. R., Environmental issues due to open dumping and landfilling. Circular Economy in Municipal Solid Waste Landfilling: Biomining & Leachate Treatment: Sustainable Solid Waste Management: Waste to Wealth. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 65-93, 2022.

[12] Idris, A., Inanc, B. and Hassan, M. N., “Overview of waste disposal and landfills/dumps in Asian countries,” Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management, 6, 104-110, 2004.

[13] Ghosh, R., Hazra, T., Mukherjee, I., Ushcats, S., WasimAkram, M., Akram, M. A. and Vlasenko, O., “Evaluating the environmental effects of open dumps and waste farming: A case study: Effects of Open Dumping,” Ecological Questions, 35(4), 1-27, 2024.

[14] Vaverková, M. D., “Landfill impacts on the environment,” Geosciences, 9(10), 431, 2019.

[15] Slack, R. J., Gronow, J. R. and Voulvoulis, N., “Household hazardous waste in municipal landfills: contaminants in leachate,” Science of the Total Environment, 337(1-3), 119-137, 2005.

[16] Tammemagi, H. Y., The Waste Crisis: Landfills, Incinerators, and The Search for a Sustainable Future. UK: Oxford University Press, 1999.

[17] Khoiron, K., Probandari, A. N., Setyaningsih, W., Kasjono, H. S., Setyobudi, R. H. and Anne, O., “A review of environmental health impact from municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill,” Annals of Tropical Medicine and Public Health, 23(3), 60-67, 2020.

[18] Aziz, H. A., Rosli, N. A. and Hung, Y. T., Landfill methane emissions. Handbook of Environment and Waste Management: Acid Rain and Greenhouse Gas Pollution Control 397-454, 2020.

[19] Dean, J. F., Middelburg, J. J., Röckmann, T., Aerts, R., Blauw, L. G., Egger, M. and Dolman, A. J., “Methane feedbacks to the global climate system in a warmer world,” Reviews of Geophysics, 56(1), 207-250, 2018.

[20] Pazoki, M. and Ghasemzadeh, R., Municipal Landfill Leachate Management. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2020.

[21] Britz, T. J., Landfill leachate treatment. Microbiology of Landfill Sites. USA: CRC Press, 131-164, 2020.

[22] Adamcová, D., Vaverková, M. D., Bartoň, S., Havlíček, Z. and Břoušková, E., “Soil contamination in landfills: a case study of a landfill in Czech Republic,” Solid Earth, 7(1), 239-247, 2016.

[23] Fang, H. Y., Kaya, A. and Kim, T. H., “Leachate leakage from landfill: Causes and mechanisms,” Geotechnical and Environmental Aspects of Waste Disposal Sites, 2007.

[24] Jiang, J., Li, J. and Rtimi, S., “Investigation and modeling of odors release from membrane holes on daily overlay in a landfill and its impact on landfill odor control,” Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 28, 4443-4451, 2021.

[25] Cheng, Z., Sun, Z., Zhu, S., Lou, Z., Zhu, N. and Feng, L., “The identification and health risk assessment of odor emissions from waste landfilling and composting,” Science of the Total Environment, 649, 1038-1044, 2019.

[26] Vaverková, M. D., Maxianová, A., Winkler, J., Adamcová, D. and Podlasek, A., “Environmental consequences and the role of illegal waste dumps and their impact on land degradation,” Land Use Policy, 89, 104234, 2019.

[27] Osazee, I. T., “Landfill in a sustainable waste disposal,” European Journal of Environment and Earth Sciences, 2(4), 67-74, 2021.

[28] Delgado, S., Herrero, A., Galarza, A., Aldalur, A., Zorrozua, N. and Arizaga, J., “Demographic impact of landfill closure on a resident opportunistic gull,” Population Ecology, 63(3), 238-246, 2021.

[29] Arnold, Z. J., Wenger, S. J. and Hall, R. J., “Not just trash birds: Quantifying avian diversity at landfills using community science data,” PLoS ONE, 16(9), e0255391, 2021.

[30] Malekian, M., Hadi, M. and Tarkesh, M., “Landscape features affecting bird diversity and abundance at an urban landfill site: a case study in Central Iran,” Bird Study, 68(1), 21-29, 2021.

[31] Blair, J. and Mataraarachchi, S., “A review of landfills, waste and the nearly forgotten nexus with climate change,” Environments, 8(8), 73, 2021.

[32] Osazee, I. T., “Landfill in a sustainable waste disposal,” European Journal of Environment and Earth Sciences, 2(4), 67-74, 2021.

[33] Manzoor, M., Gul, I., Iqrar, I. and Arshad, M., “Solid waste management practices in Pakistan,” Sustainable Waste Management Challenges in Developing Countries. USA: IGI Global, 248-269, 2020.

[34] Nadeem, K., Shahzad, S., Hassan, A., Usman Younus, M., Asad Ali Gillani, S. and Farhan, K., “Municipal solid waste generation and its compositional assessment for efficient and sustainable infrastructure planning in an intermediate city of Pakistan,” Environmental Technology, 44(21), 3196-3214, 2023.

[35] Nadeem, K., Shahzad, S., Hassan, A., Usman Younus, M., Asad Ali Gillani, S. and Farhan, K., “Municipal solid waste generation and its compositional assessment for efficient and sustainable infrastructure planning in an intermediate city of Pakistan,” Environmental Technology, 44(21), 3196-3214, 2023.

[36] Nawaz, M., Yousafzai, M. T., Khan, S., Ahmad, W., Salman, M., Han, H. and Vega-Muñoz, A., “Assessing the formal and informal waste recycling business processes through a stakeholder’s lens in Pakistan,” Sustainability, 13(21), 11717, 2021.

[37] Harfadli, M. M. A., Ramadan, B. S., Rachman, I. and Matsumoto, T., “Challenges and characteristics of the informal waste sector in developing countries: an overview,” Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management, 26(3), 1294-1309, 2024.

[38] Zorpas, A. A., “Strategy development in the framework of waste management,” Science of the Total Environment, 716, 137088, 2020.

[39] Alzamora, B. R. and Barros, R. T. D. V., “Review of municipal waste management charging methods in different countries,” Waste Management, 115, 47-55, 2020.

[40] Alm, J., Paulsson, A. and Jonsson, R., “Capacity in municipalities: Infrastructures, maintenance debts and ways of overcoming a run-to-failure mentality,” Local Economy, 36(2), 81-97, 2021.

[41] Khan, A. H., López-Maldonado, E. A., Khan, N. A., Villarreal-Gómez, L. J., Munshi, F. M., Alsabhan, A. H. and Perveen, K., “Current solid waste management strategies and energy recovery in developing countries-State of art review,” Chemosphere, 291, 133088, 2022.

[42] Iqbal, A., Abdullah, Y., Nizami, A. S., Sultan, I. A. and Sharif, F., “Assessment of solid waste management system in Pakistan and sustainable model from environmental and economic perspective,” Sustainability, 14(19), 12680, 2022.

[43] Atta, U., Hussain, M. and Malik, R. N., “Environmental impact assessment of municipal solid waste management value chain: A case study from Pakistan,” Waste Management & Research, 38(12), 1379-1388, 2020.

[44] Nadeem, K., Shahzad, S., Hassan, A., Usman Younus, M., Asad Ali Gillani, S. and Farhan, K., “Municipal solid waste generation and its compositional assessment for efficient and sustainable infrastructure planning in an intermediate city of Pakistan,” Environmental Technology, 44(21), 3196-3214, 2023.

[45] Mihai, F. C., Gündoğdu, S., Markley, L. A., Olivelli, A., Khan, F. R., Gwinnett, C. and Molinos-Senante, M., “Plastic pollution, waste management issues, and circular economy opportunities in rural communities,” Sustainability, 14(1), 20, 2021.

[46] Asif, M., Laghari, M., Abass, A., Siddique, M., Yusuf, A. A., Abubakar, A. M. and Abdo, A., “Traversing the waste spectrum: unveiling Pakistan’s MSW landscape and solutions,” Journal of Sustainable Research in Management of Agroindustry, SURIMI), 3(2), 2023.

[47] Matamanda, A. R. and Nel, V., Sustainable Development Goals and Urban Health: Strides, Challenges and Way Forward for Poor Neighborhoods. Cham: Springer Nature, 2024.

[48] Israr, M., Nazneen, S., Raza, A., Ali, N., Khan, S. A., Khan, H. and Ali, J., “Assessment of municipal solid waste landfilling practices on the groundwater quality and associated health risks: A case study of Mardan-Pakistan,” Arabian Journal of Geosciences, 15(17), 1445, 2022.

[49] Anjum, S., Bazai, Z. A. and Naeem, T., “Environmental Issues in Nexus to Ecological Poverty in Balochistan, Southwest Province of Pakistan,” Biodiversity, Conservation and Sustainability in Asia: Volume 2: Prospects and Challenges in South and Middle Asia. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 337-344, 2022.

[50] Gabol, W. A. and Ahmed, A., “Identification of future environmental challenges in Pakistan by 2025 through environment foresight,” African Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 5(10), 807-814, 2011.

[51] Asif, M., Laghari, M., Abubakar, A. M., Suri, S. K., Wakeel, A. and Siddique, M., Review on Municipal Solid Waste, Challenges and Management Policy in Pakistan,” Portugaliae Electrochimica Acta, 43, 249-258, 2025.

[52] Muhammad, S., Panezai, S. and Kakar, A. K., “Assessing Municipal Solid Waste Management System in Quetta, Pakistan,” Geography and Regional Future Studies, 1(3), 99-112, 2024.

[53] Hussain, T., Izzudin, M. and Shah, A., “Smart cities framework adoption for sustainable living in province Balochistan of Pakistan: A systematic literature review,” Computers & Education, 185, 104590, 2022.

[54] Zahra, S., Review of Solid Waste Management of Quetta City,” Dates, 1(1), 104, 2021.

[55] Qumbarani, A. Z., Rehman, Z. U., Hassani, M. S. and Jamali, M. S., “The Role of Composting in Sustainable Waste Management: A Comprehensive Review in the Context of Pakistann,” Pak-Euro Journal of Medical and Life Sciences, 7(2), 317-326, 2024.

[56] Safar, K. M., Bux, M. R., Faria, U. and Pervez, S., “Integrated model of municipal solid waste management for energy recovery in Pakistan,” Energy, 219, 119632, 2021.

[57] Malik, B., panezai, S., Saqib, S. E. and Ambreen, R., “Assessing Solid waste management practices and willingness to pay for improved solid waste Services in Khanozai, Balochistan, Pakistan,” Journal of Jilin University (Engineering and Technology Edition, 41(12), 2022.

[58] Muhammad, S., Panezai, S. and Kakar, A. K., “Assessing Municipal Solid Waste Management System in Quetta, Pakistan,” Geography and Regional Future Studies, 1(3), 99-112, 2024.

[59] Ghaffar, I., Rauf, S. and Khaskheli, W. A., “Role of educated women in promoting sustainable development in Balochistan: A critical analysis of cultural, social and religious barriers,” Pakistan Journal of Educational Research, 7(1), 55-71, 2024.

[60] Zafar, H., Bashir, S., Naudani, M. T. and Aziz, M. S., “Urbanization Trends and Their Effect on Human Development in Balochistan,” Al Khadim Research Journal of Islamic Culture and Civilization, 5(1), 1-42, 2024.

[61] Ahmad, M., Ali, A. and Hussain, H., “Spatial Data Infrastructure for Effective Information Management: A Case Study of Pakistan,” Essential Information Systems Service Management. USA: IGI Global 251-278, 2025.

[62] Asif, M., Laghari, M., Abass, A., Siddique, M., Yusuf, A. A., Abubakar, A. M. and Abdo, A., “Traversing the waste spectrum: unveiling Pakistan’s MSW landscape and solutions,” Journal of Sustainable Research in Management of Agroindustry, SURIMI), 3(2), 2023.

[63] Longsheng, C., Shah, S. A. A., Solangi, Y. A., Ahmad, M. and Ali, S., “An integrated SWOT-multi-criteria analysis of implementing sustainable waste-to-energy in Pakistan,” Renewable Energy, 195, 1438-1453, 2022.

[64] Hassan, S. H., Halim, A. A., Yusoff, M. S., Wang, L. K. and Wang, M. H. S., “Legislation for Solid Waste Management,” Solid Waste Engineering and Management, Volume 1, 85-141, 2021.

[65] Debrah, J. K., Vidal, D. G. and Dinis, M. A. P., “Raising awareness on solid waste management through formal education for sustainability: A developing countries evidence review,” Recycling, 6(1), 6, 2021.