**6.1 Excavation/ landfill mining**

Landfill mining consists of excavating and the subsequent processing of landfilled wasted. This procedure recovers recycled materials, cover soil, and a combustible fraction to free landfill space. The excavation techniques for landfill mining have not changed since the 1950's and resembles surface mining. The excavated mass is processed through a series of screens for sorting. The amount recovered depends heavily on the physical and chemical properties of the waste, types of mining technologies used, and the efficiencies of the applied technologies

However, if the separated materials are contaminated or have a poor quality, the viability of recovering recyclable items from old landfills in New Jersey is reduced. Landfill mining would be most advantageous when the waste is fully decomposed and stabilized such as after either aerobic or anaerobic bioreactor (NJDEP, 2006).
