Landfill daily cover and general ground cover is produced from sewer sludge and/or municipal solid waste by adding an amount of cellulose material to form a de-watered stream having a water content of about 55% or less by weight. The de-watered stream is then treated to reduce its pathogen concentration, preferably by first grinding the de-watered stream to form an average 10-50 mesh particle size stream that is then heat treated to further reduce the water content to 20%, preferably 5%-15%, by weight. To produce a daily cover a flame retardant material is added in amounts to qualify the end product as landfill daily cover.