Question

The daily cover of MSW landfills consists of which one of the following?

• A. Compressed soil
• B. Geo-membrane
• C. Geo-textile
• D. Geo-composite

Hint:

Daily cover is a short-term operational requirement, whereas geomembranes are long-term engineering controls.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

The three geosynthetic options, geo-membrane, geo-textile, and geo-composite, are all engineered materials designed for a long-term structural role in a landfill, such as lining the base to stop leachate escape or capping the site once it is closed; installing and removing them daily would be both impractical and far too costly. Daily cover, on the other hand, needs to be applied and then pushed aside repeatedly as more waste is added each day, so it has to be cheap, locally available, and simple to place with ordinary earth-moving equipment. Compacted soil satisfies exactly this operational requirement, which is why it is the standard material used for the daily covering of municipal solid waste.

Therefore, the correct answer is Compressed soil.

Answer 2

Looking at when each material is actually used in a landfill's life cycle clarifies this question quickly.

1. Compressed soil: Applied at the end of every operating day directly over freshly placed waste, and this is exactly the daily, repeated timing the question is asking about.
2. Geo-membrane: Installed once, typically at the base as a liner or at final closure as part of the cap, not on a daily cycle.
3. Geo-textile: Installed as a permanent separation or filtration layer within the engineered structure of the landfill, again a one-time structural placement.
4. Geo-composite: Used in permanent drainage or barrier assemblies as part of the overall landfill design, not something reapplied every day.

Since only compacted soil is used on the daily timescale the question describes, while the geosynthetics are all permanent, one-time installations, soil is clearly the material used as daily cover.

Therefore, the correct answer is Compressed soil.