Application of Decision Tree Algorithm in E-waste Land Filling

E-waste is the fastest growing source of municipal waste on earth. The 21st century witnesses novel environmental challenges due to the advent of electronic goods in our day-to-day life. The disposal of e-waste directly into landfill without prior treatment poses a threat for ground water contamination. The present investigation is to find out the best way of safe disposal of electronic wastes. For this purpose, we used the data in the existing literature on various soil properties and a decision tree algorithm, which was applied to the respective soil factors and bifurcated to find out suitable soil type/ conditions for dumping e-waste in landfill. In bifurcation with parameters viz. pH, specific gravity, electric conductivity, organic matter, clayey/ silt percent and permeability, it is found that clayey soil is much preferred to dump the e-waste chemicals because leaching is less besides its metal retention capacity. The study also suggests a pre-treatment prior to disposal in landfill area may further reduce the environmental threat caused by the heavy metal leachates from e-wastes.