Entec Bulletin
The Landfill Directive Affects You
On 16th July 2001, the Landfill Directive came into force, two years after it was adopted across the European Union. The Directive has since been transposed into law in England & Wales through the Landfill Regulations 2002. Separate legislation will apply to Scotland and Northern Ireland. This is one of the most significant pieces of European legislation to be introduced in recent years, and will impact everyone in the UK. Yet with the exception of those working in the waste sector, the impact of the Directive remains unknown to most individuals and businesses throughout the country.
Why change?
The main objectives of the Landfill Directive are twofold: to reduce the amount of waste being deposited within landfill sites and to improve the standard of landfills in member countries. Biodegradable wastes currently landfilled must be reduced on a sliding scale over the next 14 years, requiring a major rethink from local authorities with responsibility for municipal waste, if the ultimate target of 35% of 1995 levels is to be achieved. These measures are intended to reduce the levels of ozone-depleting methane entering the atmosphere, as well as minimise the impact of landfill sites on the general environment. With more than 85% of the UK's municipal waste currently being sent to landfill, this is a major challenge.
Private sector waste
The impact on the private sector will be significant too, with perhaps the most critical impact to industry being the new requirements regarding hazardous wastes and certain other waste types. As of 16th July 2004, several waste types including tyres and all liquid wastes will be banned from landfill altogether. For example, the 50 million used tyres produced by the UK annually will no longer be permitted to be disposed of in landfills. In addition hazardous wastes will no longer be allowed to be mixed with non-hazardous waste in landfills as is currently the practice throughout the UK. The number of sites suitable for hazardous wastes is likely to fall from around 250 to a couple of dozen in the UK resulting in a major increase in the cost of disposing of hazardous wastes as landfill becomes expensive and other forms of treatment have to be found. The definition of 'hazardous waste' is broadening under the European Waste Catalogue so more waste producers will be caught by the new legislation.
The Directive will lead to cost increases in both business and consumer sectors, as more expensive alternatives will have to be sought. So what can be done? Here are some of the options:
Reduction and re-use
The most obvious way is to reduce or minimise the amount of material we class as waste. There are also many examples of wastes that can be re-used. Milk bottles are perhaps the most familiar, though changing consumer habits have reduced the benefits of this return and re-use cycle. On a different scale, schemes are being set up to re-use and refurbish electrical appliances, from mobile phones to washing machines. And should the UK follow the move taken by the Republic of Ireland and tax plastic carrier bags, the incentive for re-use would no doubt grow.
Recycling
The UK government has set targets for recycling and composting
of 30% of household waste and recovery of 45% of municipal waste by 2010. If
materials are clean and properly segregated, and within reasonable distance
of a sorting and processing facility, recycling can be cost-effective. The market
for goods made from recycled materials is growing, and if products are specified
in a way that encourages recycling, the benefits will increase. Creative thinking
is essential: in theory, most wastes can be recycled, but we should only recycle
materials where the overall resource consumption is reduced and where there
is a positive benefit to the environment.
Composting
With the Landfill Directive requiring biodegradable waste to be diverted from landfill, composting will have a big future. This can be done at home, of course, with a large proportion of household waste, but also on a more commercial scale by local authorities and food process industries, with ultimate re-use of the compost on different land types according to purpose.
Energy from Waste
The technology used to incinerate waste has developed considerably, to the degree that it is considered by many to be a sustainable means of dealing with waste. The production of energy from incineration is one perceived benefit. However, despite significant reductions in dioxin emissions from improved incineration processes in recent years, there are concerns in some quarters about the emissions that are produced and the process remains controversial. Currently in the UK emerging technologies such as gasification and pyrolosis are being proposed as alternatives to incineration.
Effective waste management requires a multi-faceted approach, including landfill where appropriate, and the Landfill Directive makes that more critical than ever. The additional costs incurred for managing municipal wastes alone have been estimated at up to £24bn between now and 2020, and industrial waste costs will be on a similar scale. And whatever the price, it is one that ultimately we will all be responsible for paying.
Visit Defra’s recycling and waste web pages at www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/index.htm for more detail on the impact of the Landfill Directive in the UK.
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