A sanitary landfill is intended for final disposal of waste produced by human activities. At EGF, it is also the last environmental resort in an integrated management system, which is the case in Portugal.

Even so, it is often the only way of ensuring safe disposal of mixed waste as it guarantees a strict environmental protection system with suitable drainage for leachate and biogas. Despite it being a final disposal system, energy can also be produced from biogas - in the EGF Universe there are 27 landfills. There is also a biogas drainage network (gases from biodegradation of waste mass) at a sanitary landfill, which is sent for energy recovery or burning. A sanitary landfill must also have an environmental monitoring system to control leachate, biogas, underground waterways, surface waters and topographic changes. When it reaches its maximum capacity, the sanitary landfill is closed and redesigned to blend in with the landscape. Later on, it may become an environmentally safe and protected green area or park to be used by the population.