Landfill is an unsustainable and potentially expensive method of waste disposal. It is also very hard to find suitable sites for landfill in Merseyside and Halton so we have to rely on others to handle our waste. This method of disposal cannot continue, so the Waste DPD needs to provide an alternative strategy.
The alternative is to minimise our waste, reuse and recycle, look at newer, more sustainable technologies for waste management and provide policies and sites for facilities that will take us towards a more sustainable, responsible future. Landfill is the final disposal option of last resort and should be minimised.
Throughout the preparation of the Waste DPD, a waste hierarchy provides a foundation to help shift the balance of how we manage our waste.
We know from consultation that there is agreement on these principles. However we also know that when specific sites are proposed for building waste management facilities, even if these are judged to be safer and less intrusive than landfill, local opposition will often arise. Sites allocated within the Waste DPD will have satisfied rigorous criteria ensuring that they are the best sites available in our sub-region for the facilities that we require.
The Merseyside & Halton sub-region is unlikely to be completely self-sufficient in managing our waste. Despite best efforts to re-use, recycle and recover energy and materials there will be some residual waste that will need to go to landfill, some of which will be transported outside of Merseyside and Halton. However, we expect that any unavoidable exports of waste to landfill outside of the sub-region will be balanced by imports of wastes for treatment and processing.
