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Both ozone (O 3 ) and UV/O 3 treatment processes can effectively remove organic matter in the flocculated membrane filtration concentrate from landfill leachate, but the ozonation byproducts (OBPs) generated in the processes remain unknown. Using electrospray ionization-coupled Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (ESI FT-ICR MS), this study investigated the molecular characteristics of unknown OBPs and their formation mechanisms during the treatment of flocculated nanofiltration concentrate (FNFC) using the O 3 and UV/O 3 processes. The results showed that after being treated by the O 3 and UV/O 3 processes, the average value of the oxygen-to-carbon ratio (O/C avg ) in the FNFC organic matter increased substantially from 0.49 to 0.61-0.64 and 0.63-0.71, respectively, with an O 3 dosage of 13.4-54.4 mg/min. The main OBPs were CHO and CHON compounds, which were mainly produced through oxygenation (+O 2 /+O 3 and -H 2 +O 2 ), oxidative deamination (-NH 3 +O 2 ), decyclopropyl (-C 3 H 4 ), and deisopropyl (-C 3 H 6 ) reactions. The hydroxyl radical ( • OH) can intensify these reactions, resulting in an abundance of OBPs with a high oxidation degree and low molecular weight. OBPs at five m / z values were fragmented and analyzed with tandem mass spectrometry, and abundant hydroxyl groups, carboxyl groups, and carbonyl groups were tentatively identified, presenting a potential toxicity to aquatic organisms. Due to the high molecular diversity of the OBPs in FNFC, their lower Δ G Cox o compared to natural fulvic acid, and potential toxicity, their impact on the water environment should be given more attention.

Refractory organic matter in membrane bioreactor effluent resulting from landfill leachate treatment has a complex composition. This paper identified the transformation mechanism of organic matter in a flocculation-ultraviolet (UV)/peroxymonosulfate (PMS) system at the molecular level using electrospray ionization coupled with Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry. The results showed that the flocculation system was able to remove a large amount of dissolved organic matter (DOM) with high oxidation and unsaturation/saturation. UV radiation displayed a relatively strong reactivity for DOM with an electron-rich structure, which it can transform into DOM with lower aromaticity through photolysis and photosensitivity, although the effectiveness of the transformation was poor. In comparison, due to the action of reactive oxygen species, the UV/PMS system can enable reactions such as demethylation, dehydrogenation, decarboxylation, dehydroxylation, ring cleavage, and decarbonylation. It can remove approximately 60% quantity of the total DOM and produce DOM featuring a higher degree of oxidation and saturation than that of the UV system alone. The results showed that the UV/PMS system was a complementary of flocculation in DOM removal from the membrane bioreactor effluent, while the system also resulted in a large number of sulfuric compounds; thus, requiring further evaluation of its ecological effects., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In this study, a cutting-edge mass spectrometry (MS) technique, Orbitrap fusion MS with ultrahigh resolution, was used to analyze the molecular composition, chemical properties, formation mechanism, and environmental impact of refractory dissolved organic matter (rDOM) in leachate. The results showed that the bioavailable DOM (bDOM) and rDOM constituents varied substantially during the biological treatment of landfill leachate. Compared with bDOM, the rDOM in leachate had a higher degree of unsaturation, aromaticity, and oxidation, and a larger molecular weight, and contained more organic matter with benzene ring and biphenyl structures. Using high-throughput 16S rRNA sequencing, metagenomics, the Kendrick mass defect (KMD), and a mass difference network (MDiN), it was found that rDOM in leachate is generated through carboxylation (+COO), dehydro-oligomerization (-H 2 ), and chain scission (-CH 2 ) pathways due to the activity of microbes such as Patescibacteria, Chloroflexi, and Proteobacteria. Compared with Suwannee River fulvic acid (SRFA), the rDOM in leachate contained more organics with nitrogen, sulfur, benzene rings, and biphenyls. If the rDOM in leachate enters the environment it will affect the composition of the original organic matter, and its biogeochemical transformation and environmental fate will then need to be monitored and may require special attention., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

During leachate treatment, molecular information regarding the completely removed, partially removed, less-reactive, increased, and produced parts of dissolved organic matter (DOM) remains unknown. This study applied ESI FT-ICR MS to investigate the transformation characteristics of leachate nanofiltration concentrate (NFC) DOM during a combined flocculation-O 3 /H 2 O 2 process. The NFC contained 5069 compounds in four main classes (CHO, CHON, CHOS, and CHONS compounds). The DOM number decreased to 4489 during flocculation and to 2903 after the O 3 /H 2 O 2 process. During flocculation, the completely and partially removed DOM was mainly low-oxygen unsaturated and phenolic compounds. Saturated DOM was produced and remained in the flocculated effluent. During the O 3 /H 2 O 2 process, the completely and partially removed DOM were mainly low-oxygen unsaturated and phenolic compounds that were mainly in a reduced state. Flocculation can remove many (condensed) aromatic compounds, and methylation and hydrogenation reactions occurred during flocculation. In the O 3 /H 2 O 2 process, dearomatization, demethylation, carboxylation, and carbonylation reactions further achieved the degradation of DOM that was resistant to flocculation. Overall, the combined flocculation-O 3 /H 2 O 2 process collectively eliminated a broader range of DOM than the single processes could achieve. The results of this study provide an in-depth understanding of DOM transformation in an NFC treatment., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

To comprehensively investigate the application of membrane separation technology in the treatment of landfill leachate in China, the performance of nearly 200 waste management enterprises of different sizes in China were analyzed, with an emphasis on their scale, regional features, processes, and economic characteristics. It was found that membrane separation technologies, mainly nanofiltration (NF), reverse osmosis (RO), and NF + RO, have been used in China since 2004. The treatment capacity of the two most dominant membrane separation technologies, i.e., NF and RO, were both almost 60,000 m 3 /d in 2018, and both technologies are widely used in landfills and incineration plants. Their distribution is mainly concentrated in eastern and southwestern China, where the amount of municipal solid waste (MSW) is relatively high and the economy is developing rapidly. Membrane separation technology is the preferred technique for the advanced treatment of leachate because more contaminants can be effectively removed by the technology than by other advanced processes. However, the membrane retentate that is produced using this technology-commonly known as leachate concentrate-is heavily contaminated due to the enrichment of almost all the inorganic anions, heavy metals, and organic matter that remain after bioprocessing. An economic cost analysis revealed that the operating cost of membrane separation technology has stabilized and is between 1.77 USD/m 3 and 4.90 USD/m 3 ; electricity consumption is the most expensive cost component. This review describes the current problems with the use of membrane separation technology and recommends strategies and solutions for its future use., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Biochar is a carbon-rich material that can be obtained from pyrolysis of solid waste (e.g., agricultural solid waste and sludge from wastewater treatment plants). Biochar features low cost, large specific surface area, and strong adsorption capacity. New biochar composites can be produced via modification and loading of nano particles onto biochar. Biochar can contribute to the dispersion and stabilization of nano particles. In addition, nano particles can increase the number of surface-active sites, which improves the physicochemical properties of the material. Biochar and biochar composites have been applied widely in wastewater treatment, and have significantly enhanced the treatment performance of Fenton-like processes (activation of hydrogen peroxide and persulfate) as an advanced oxidation process for organics removal and wastewater decontamination. This paper reviews the preparation methods for biochar and biochar composites to systematically analyze the influential factors on the preparation process. The paper also comprehensively reviews the mechanisms by which biochar removes different organic pollutants. However, due to the vast number of different biochar feedstocks and their preparation methods, it is difficult to compare the properties of one biochar to another. Guidance if provided for the application of biochar and biochar composites for wastewater decontamination., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Landfill leachate contains high concentrations of complex organic matter (OM) that can severely impact the ecological environment. If landfill leachate is to be treated using a combined "biological + advanced treatment" process, the molecular information of OM must be investigated to optimize the operation parameters of the combined process and maximize the removal of organic pollutants. This study applied ultra-high resolution mass spectroscopy to investigate the degradation and transformation characteristics of refractory OM in mature landfill leachate at the molecular level (m/z = 150-800) during biological treatment (i.e., semi-aerobic aged refuse biofilter, SAARB) and subsequent chemical oxidation (i.e., the Fenton process and ozonation). After SAARB treatment, the polycyclic aromatics (aromatic index, AI > 0.66) and polyphenol (0.66 ≥ AI > 0.50) contents increased, and the highly unsaturated phenolic compounds (AI ≤ 0.50 and H/C < 1.5), which have a high bioavailability, were mostly removed. Compared with raw leachate, SAARB effluent (i.e., SAARB leachate) contained fewer organics with short carbon chains, more organics with long carbon chains, an elevated condensation degree for organics and, thus, a considerably reduced biodegradability. Although both the Fenton and ozonation processes could remove many of the polycyclic aromatics and polyphenols, ozone produced considerable amounts of aliphatic compounds with high bioavailability. Compared to ozonation, the Fenton process utilized the hydroxyl radical to non-selectively react with OM and produced better mineralization results., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

This study investigated the effectiveness of a combined membrane bioreactor (MBR) and reverse osmosis (RO) process for treating leachate produced by a large-scale anaerobic landfill. The MBR process had limited treatment efficiency for removing organic pollutants, but when combined with RO, the integrated system completely removed macromolecular compounds (i.e., humic- and fulvic-like substances) and produced effluent that satisfied the applicable discharge standard. The landfill leachate contained many types of DOM that had high molecular weight and were highly unsaturated. Although the MBR process removed some DOM that had a relatively low saturated degree (mainly aliphatic compounds (2.0 ≥ H/C ≥ 1.5) with relatively high bioavailability), many bio-refractory compounds were not removed. The RO system greatly reduced the content of residual DOM in MBR effluent and was effective for removing heteroatom DOM, especially polycyclic aromatics (AI > 0.66) and polyphenols (0.66 ≥ AI > 0.50). The effluent from the combined process of MBR and RO treatment mainly contained a small number of aliphatic compounds and phenolic compounds (AI ≤ 0.50 and H/C < 1.5) that had higher bioavailability than DOM in the raw leachate and posed little environmental risk., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Semi-aerobic aged refuse biofilters (SAARB) are known to efficiently remove organic matter, nitrogenous substances, and anions from landfill leachate. However, long-term recirculation of mature landfill leachate inevitably leads to accumulation of pollutants and decreases treatment capacity. In this study, the washing action provided by domestic sewage was used to recover and even enhance the treatment performance of SAARBs treating mature landfill leachate. Three SAARB columns were operated for 300 d after which a "Recirculation-Washing-Recirculation" sequence was followed. In the first recirculation period (22 d), removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total nitrogen (TN) decreased from ca. 90% and 60%, respectively, initially to about 75% and less than 20%, respectively. Thereafter, washing (20 d) of the SAARBs was accomplished by applying domestic sewage. In the subsequent second recirculation period (30 d), the SAARBs were operated at the same hydraulic loading as used initially, but achieved high (ca. 90%) COD and relatively high (ca. 59%-76%) TN removal, including degradation of refractory organic matter such as humic- and fulvic-like substances. Overall, the mechanisms of the treatment performance recovery (including organics degradation and nitrification-denitrification) using domestic sewage can be attributed to three main effects: (1) some accumulated pollutants were washed out, thereby leading to recovery of the adsorption ability of aged refuse; (2) the inhibition of bio-refractory organics stress on microbial activities was mitigated by domestic sewage washing; and (3) the wash out of some accumulated salts (e.g., chloride and sulfate ions) probably helped the microbial activity recover., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Ultraviolet-quenching substances (UVQS), recently identified pollutants in landfill leachate, can interfere with ultraviolet disinfection when landfill leachate is co-treated with municipal sewage. This study investigated the elimination of UVQS in mature landfill leachates through a membrane bioreactor (MBR) and a semi-aerobic aged refuse biofilter (SAARB). Humus (i.e., fulvic and humic acids) was the main component of organic matter in both MBR- and SAARB-treated landfill leachates, while there was a more stable chemical structure of humus in the MBR-treated leachate. The concentration of UVQS in MBR-treated mature landfill leachate was higher than that of SAARB-treated leachate. Ozonation can degrade UVQS effectively, especially for landfill leachate containing a high concentration UVQS (i.e., MBR-treated landfill leachate). However, a large accumulation of small molecule acid might be caused by ozonation for highly concentrated UVQS in landfill leachate, leading to the delayed degradation of total organic carbon. Moreover, ozonation degraded both fulvic acid and humic acid; and degraded humic acid more effectively. For instance, 88.0% removal (MBR-CP2) and 96.0% removal (SAARB-CP2) of humic acid was higher than those (83.3% for MBR-CP1 and 92.3% for SAARB-CP1) of fulvic acid. The destruction of UV-quenching functional groups of organics (such as CC) by ozone was the main UVQS degradation mechanism of ozonation applied to MBR- and SAARB-treated landfill leachates. Therefore, the ozonation process can efficiently decrease UV absorption intensity in both MBR- and SAARB-treated landfill leachates., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Many studies have sought to optimize operation parameters and enhance the treatment capacity of bioreactor landfills (BL) under ideal laboratory conditions. At pilot scale, conclusions drawn from laboratory-scale experiments will be different due to variations in actual landfill composition and changes in environmental conditions. However, comparative pilot-scale studies of traditional anaerobic landfills (AnL) and BLs are rare. In this study, three pilot-scale landfills, including an AnL, anaerobic BL (AnBL) and semi-aerobic BL (SABL), were monitored to examine the difference in performance at different scales and among types of landfills. Settlement amount followed the order SABL (25.45 cm) > AnBL (18.67 cm) > AnL (14.38 cm). Decomposition of organic matter (i.e., volatile fatty acids) was more rapid in SABL than in the other landfills and no hydrolytic acidification period was observed. Therefore, among the three landfills, SABL entered the methanogenic stage in a much shorter time and MSW stabilization was accelerated due to this landfill's unique combination of aerobic-anoxic-anaerobic ambient. In addition, NH 4 + -N concentration in leachate from the SABL (~19.96 mg/L) was substantially lower than from AnL (338.28 mg/L) and AnBL (233.22 mg/L), and SABL leachate exhibited the least chloride pollution risk. This study provides theoretical support and strong evidence for using SABLs to treat MSW in practical applications., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing finacial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In this study, refractory organics in a membrane bioreactor (MBR) effluent were investigated following the treatment of landfill leachate by the ozone combined hydrogen peroxide (O 3 /H 2 O 2 ) and microwave-activated persulfate (MW/PS) processes. The treatment efficiency and the transformation characteristics of refractory organics and reactive oxygen species were determined. It was found that an acidic environment and an increase in the O 3 dosage improved the organic removal efficiency in the O 3 /H 2 O 2 process, and the use of H 2 O 2 improved the treatment efficiency, while excessive H 2 O 2 inhibited it. In the MW/PS process, an increase in the PS dosage and MW power greatly improved the treatment efficiency, while an alkaline environment inhibited it. Under the optimized reaction parameters, the O 3 /H 2 O 2 and MW/PS processes effectively degraded refractory organics (i.e., humic acid and fulvic acid) into components with a smaller molecular weight and simpler structure. The humification, aromaticity, and conjugation of organics in wastewater were greatly reduced. Compared to the O 3 /H 2 O 2 process, the MW/PS process had a better treatment effect on refractory organics, and there were more low molecular weight organics (<1 kDa) in the treated wastewater. Because O 3 is the main selective oxidant in the O 3 /H 2 O 2 process, a large amount of organic acids were accumulated. A large amount of hydroxyl radicals and sulfate radicals with strong oxidation ability were produced in the MW/PS process, and therefore the combined action of hydroxyl and sulfate radicals can efficiently decompose humus and intermediate organics. Overall, the MW/PS process was more effective in treating the MBR effluent than the O 3 /H 2 O 2 process. The results of this study provide a reference for the selection of an advanced oxidation process to eliminate refractory organics in landfill leachate., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

To achieve a uniform water distribution and to promote the stabilization of bioreactor landfills, the effects of different density on the transport and hydraulic characteristics of recirculated leachate were studied in a Li + tracer experiment. The landfill density was related negatively to the maximum production rate of leachate, the percentage of Li + tracer solution and the cumulative amount of Li + that washed out in the first recirculation round. The cumulative amount of Li + that was washed out accounted for 92.61%, 82.07% and 75.25% of the injection volume in three waste columns (1#, 2# and 3#) with landfill densities of 497.5, 726.4 and 970.1 kg m -3 at the thirtieth recirculation, respectively. The results revealed that a greater landfill density yielded a smaller amount of Li + that was washed out per recirculation cycle and the cumulative amount of Li + washed out, and a longer contact time between the waste and leachate. Moreover, waste columns 1#, 2# and 3# are reactors with a high dispersion and obvious retention zones, and their Morrill Dispersion Index (MDI) values were 25.00, 34.51 and 24.55, respectively. A short-flow phenomenon is obvious in the reactor with a low landfill density. Furthermore, the plug-flow effect is relatively better in the reactor with a high landfill density. To achieve a uniform distribution of recirculated leachate in the landfill, the MDI of the reactor should be reduced combined with other measures, such as pre-crushing and different recirculation schemes.

To study the impact of leachate recirculation frequency on the transformation of carbon and nitrogen pollutants in a semi-aerobic bioreactor landfill (SABL), three laboratory-scale SABLs were investigated, each using a different leachate recirculation frequency (daily, once each 3 days, and once each 5 days). Results showed that degradation of total nitrogen (TN), ammonium nitrogen (NH 4 + -N), chemical oxygen demand (COD), and total organic carbon (TOC) could be described using a quadratic polynomial-compound index model. Degradation rates of TN, NH 4 + -N, COD, and TOC slightly increased from 0.01795, 0.01814, 0.01451, and 0.01166 day -1 to 0.02054, 0.01903, 0.01488, and 0.01203 day -1 , respectively, when the recirculation frequency increased from once per 5 days to once per 3 days. When recirculation frequency was increased to daily, degradation rates of TN, NH 4 + -N, COD, and TOC significantly increased to 0.03698, 0.02718, 0.02479, and 0.02872 day -1 , respectively. Moreover, when recirculation frequency increased from once per 5 days to once per 3 days, the gasification rate of nitrogenous and carbonaceous pollutants was enhanced between 20.38 and 8.17%, respectively. When the leachate recirculation rate further increased to daily, only a small amount of carbonaceous and nitrogenous pollutants was transformed to the liquid phase. Thus, increasing the leachate recirculation frequency in an SABL benefits the removal of carbonaceous and nitrogenous pollutants from the reactor. In addition, the greater is the recirculation frequency, the lower is the residual carbon and nitrogen in the solid phase, and the higher is the gasification rate. A proper recirculation frequency promotes the stabilization of landfill leachate. This study provides a theoretical reference and experimental evidence for accelerating the stabilization of MSW and contributes to the macro-control of landfills.

This work reports the feasibility of utilizing sulfonated polystyrene nanospheres (SPS NSs) to extract heavy metals from collagen solutions. We have endeavored to present a detailed study on the adsorption characteristics and mechanism of heavy metals including Pb 2+ , Mn 2+ , Cr 3+ and Cd 2+ . The adsorption isotherms were fitted by the Langmuir and Freundlich models while the adsorption kinetics data were described by the pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order and intraparticle diffusion equations. The adsorption isotherms were better fitted by the Langmuir model, leading to theoretical maximum capacities of 50.7, 15.0, 8.7 and 39.0 mg g -1 for the adsorption of Pb 2+ , Mn 2+ , Cr 3+ and Cd 2+ , respectively. Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) measurements were conducted to detect the heat exchange of the adsorption processes. As a proof of concept, SPS NSs were practically applied in sequestrating heavy metals from Talapia-fish-scale derived collagen. The effects of pH of the collagen solutions in the removal of metals were investigated. By a single treatment, the concentrations of the metal ions were decreased to the regulatory standards whilst the concentration of collagen proteins was well maintained., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) in mature landfill leachate is significantly different from that in young landfill leachate; the composition of DOM greatly influences both biological treatment and advanced treatment processes. In the present study, the transformation and degradation mechanisms of landfill leachates in a combined semi-aerobic aged refuse biofilter (SAARB) and ozonation process was investigated using organic removal analysis, molecular weight distribution (MWD), 3D-EEM-PARAFAC analysis, UV-Vis spectroscopy, and linear regression. Results revealed that the DOM in mature landfill leachate contained a greater amount of aromatic substances and had higher molecular weight than DOM in young landfill leachate. After the SAARB process, humus contained in the SAARB was discharged with effluent from both mature and young landfill leachate. Due to the differences in composition and structure of organic matter, the COD removal efficiency (17.89%) of SAARB effluent from treating mature landfill leachate (mature SAARB effluent) was much lower than that (45.91%) of SAARB effluent from treating young landfill leachate (young SAARB effluent) under the same operational parameters of the ozonation process. As indicated by PARAFAC analysis, better chemical stability of DOM in mature SAARB effluent resulted in inferior ozone treatment efficiency. Furthermore, the hydrophobicity and the concentration of benzene ring compounds in the mature and young SAARB effluent were reduced significantly by the ozonation process. Therefore, great improvements in the biodegradability of SAARB effluents were achieved in the ozonation process. Overall, the results of this study provide suggestions and guidance for practical applications of these technologies., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Shale gas flowback fluid (SGF) is generated during shale gas extraction and typically contains a variety of toxic and refractory organic compounds. In this work, a microwave-activated persulfate process (MW-PS process) was developed to pretreat SGF. The major factors influencing the treatment efficiency of the MW-PS process (PS dose, initial pH, MW power, and reaction time) were optimized, and the synergetic effect (SE), degradation of recalcitrant matter, and energy consumption were systematically investigated. Results showed that the SE of the process reached a high index (i.e., 9.85), suggesting a significant synergetic effect of MW and PS. In addition, under the optimal MW-PS condition (PS dose of 2.5 g/L, MW power of 900 W, and initial pH of 2), chemical oxygen demand removal reached 66.40% in a short reaction time of 10 min. Other analyses demonstrated that benzene series compounds, organic acids, lipid substances, alkanes, antioxidants, and fluorescent dissolved organic matter in SGF were decomposed to smaller-molecule organic matter, suggesting that refractory and toxic organic matter was removed by the MW-PS treatment process. Overall, the results of this study showed that MW-PS technology is an effective and promising method to treat SGF once the operation parameters are optimized.

A microwave-Fenton technology was applied to dispose of the reverse-osmosis concentrated leachate. Influential factors on the treatment of concentrated leachate with the pure Fenton and microwave-Fenton method were investigated. For the conventional Fenton process, the removal efficiencies of chemical oxygen demand (COD Cr ), UV 254 , and the color number (CN) reached 84%, 87%, and 96%, respectively, with the biodegradability (BOD 5 /COD Cr ) increased from 0.13 to 0.51 at an initial pH of 5.0, Fe 2+ of 0.04 mol/L, a n(H 2 O 2 )/n(Fe 2+ ) ratio of 8 after a reaction time of 3 h. When incorporating the Fenton process with microwave irradiation, a comparative COD Cr and UV 254 , and the CN removal rate of 75%, 83%, and 95%, and a high BOD 5 /COD Cr of 0.62 were achieved under a microwave power of 390 W and an extremely shortened reaction time of only 8 min. Meanwhile, sludge quantity showed a reduction of 24.7%, decreased from 8.50 g/L to 6.40 g/L after the participation of microwave. In addition, molecular-weight fraction (MWF), UV-visible spectrum (UV-vis), and 3D-EEM spectrum tests demonstrated that the macromolecular and complex organic compounds in the wastewater were significantly decomposed into small molecular matters. Our results found that microwave-Fenton is a promising technology for concentrated leachate treatment, with much shorter reaction time, lower sludge production, and enhanced biodegradability, as well as comparative organic matter removal performance.