Landfill is one of the oldest forms of waste disposal. It is the disposal of waste materials by burial and has been one of the most common methods of waste disposal in the UK.
Landfilling practice in the UK has to change in order to meet the requirements of a number of new or revised EU directives. For example, the UK now imposes a tax on biodegradable waste which is landfilled and in addition there is also the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme (LATS), whereby local authorities can trade landfill quotas while the allowances are reduced year-on-year.
Currently Merseyside and Halton exports a lot of waste to landfill sites outside of the sub region. There is only one operational landfill in St. Helens that is currently accepting waste for final disposal and it will be full very shortly. In addition several other closed landfill sites are currently being restored to other uses.
The Waste DPD is required to explore landfill disposal potential across Merseyside and Halton. Despite the difficulty of finding such sites, It is important that we fully explore landfill opportunities our sub region rather than assuming we can continue to export our waste to landfill sites outside of Merseyside and Halton.
What is wrong with landfill?
Landfill is now seen as the disposal method of last resort in the Waste Hierarchy, mainly because it contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and represents an inefficient use of valuable resources. For example, much of what we used to bury in the ground can now be recycled or treated to generate energy.
Fines will be imposed if we fail to meet landfill diversion targets and these fines will in turn be passed onto local authorities, meaning local people may pay through council tax.
