2026 Conference

Landfill Operations Basics

Increase your understanding of landfill operations with this introductory course. This course provides scalehouse operators, equipment operators, spotters, laborers and other key landfill employees with an overview of landfill operations, how they relate to one another and basic health and safety issues.

Course Objectives

  • Upon completion of this course, participants will understand:
  • The role of the sanitary landfills as a component of an integrated solid waste management system
  • Key functions and associated processes within landfill operations
  • The basics of landfill gas and leachate management and groundwater monitoring
  • Essentials of equipment selection, cell construction and litter management
  • The fundamentals of accident prevention

Who Should Attend

This course is intended for landfill owners, operators, managers, supervisors/foremen, scalehouse operators, equipment operators, spotters, laborers and other employees responsible for daily landfill operation, as well as for those who intend to write the Alberta Landfill Operator Certification Exam.

Certification

If you would like to write the Alberta or Manitoba Landfill Operators Certification exam after a course, you must fill out an application to write the exam (the exam requires a separate application form and documentation). All applications must be received by the SWANA NLC office no later than 4 weeks prior to the exam date. Click on the button below to find more information, and application forms for your province.

Alberta Certification Details

Manitoba Certification Details

Course Content

The course manual is Landfill Operations Basics. This manual details the following topics with supplemental images, graphs and examples for participants to discuss and serves as an on-the-job reference resource.

  • The Sanitary Landfill in Integrated Solid
  • Waste Management
  • Gate Attendant & Scalehouse Operations
  • Spotting and Waste Screening
  • Equipment Selection and Maintenance
  • Cell Construction and Compaction
  • Litter Control
  • Alberta (or Manitoba or Saskatchewan, as applicable)
  • Regulatory Framework
  • Landfill Safety
  • Hard-to-Handle Wastes
  • Special Wastes
  • Nuisance and Health Issues
  • Landfill Gas Generation and Management
  • Leachate Production and Management
  • Groundwater Monitoring

There are no dates scheduled for this course.

Online courses start at 8:00 am and will go until approximately 4:00 pm each day (Mountain Time / Alberta).

Participants are encouraged to use video chat as it makes for much better interaction and conversation. If you are taking this course for CEUs, you will be required to be visible via video camera throughout the course.

$475/person online; $575/person in-person

Please register early so we have enough time to ship the course materials to you before the online course starts. We cannot guarantee that you will have your course manual in time if you register less than 10 business days prior to course begin.

(2 days; optional written Alberta or Manitoba Landfill Operator Certification exam available)
Manitoba Sustainable Development has advised that the exam is available only to employees of landfills on provincial land. If the landfill that you work at is on federal land (i.e., a First Nation Reserve) then, unfortunately, you are not eligible to write the exam. The course itself is open to anyone interested.

Earn 20 SWANA PDHs and/or 1.2 CEUs towards your Alberta Landfill Operator Certification