Phytocapping.com

Phytocapping is a relatively new way of creating a landfill cover.  Since 1976, the standard practice for covering a landfill has been to use a cover of compacted clay, composite plastic geomembranes or both.  These covers were then usually buried in 18 inches of earth and soil that can sustain native plant life.

In the 2 decades following 1976, there was very little data concerning the long-term effectiveness of this solution.  Then in the late 90s, more attention began to be focused on alternative landfill covers.  In 1997, the EPA created the Alternative Cover Assessment Program to research other landfill cover possibilities.  In their 6 year experiment, they worked with 14 communities to implement phytocapping covers and research their effectiveness.  A wide variety of environmental factors were considered using test sites in California, Georgia, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, and Oregon.  The information they gathered represents the largest body of data on landfill cover performance to date.

The research findings were generally very positive.  In every test case, the phytocap performed as good or better than the conventional cover.  Even better, the financial savings were quite significant as well.  The 30 landfill sites currently utilizing alternative covers have collectively saved $205 million dollars by simply implementing a natural and environmentally friendly solution.

Since this research was only completed in 2004, it's obvious that phytocapping is a very young concept and still requires more research.  The initial data is very encouraging though and much would be gained both environmentally and financially from widely implementing this strategy.