Landfills in The United Kingdom

Landfills In The United Kingdom

Landfill in the United Kingdom is currently recognised as the Best practicable environmental option (BPEO) for the disposal of certain waste types. In order to apply the principles of the EC 5th Programme of Policy & Action in relation to the environment and sustainable development the Government has prepared a waste strategy. The waste strategy policy on landfill is to promote landfill practices which will achieve stabilisation of landfill sites within one generation.

This policy is to be implemented through guidance set out in a revised series of waste management papers on landfill. In addition, the United Kingdom and many other countries are parties to the 1992 agreement on sustainable development at the Earth Summit. The United Kingdom's strategy for sustainable development was published in 1994. In the field of waste management, the strategy requires that the present generation should deal with the waste it produces and not leave problems to be dealt with by future generations (a generation is considered to be 30–50 years).

In recognition of the increasing quantities of waste that are being disposed of to landfill the Government has, from October 1996, imposed a tax on certain types of waste deposited in landfill. Landfill operators licensed under the Environmental Protection Act (EPA) or the Pollution Control & Local Government Order 1978 etc. were required to register their liability for the tax by 31 August 1996.

Landfill operators who also use their site for recycling, incineration or sorting waste can apply to have the relevant area designated a tax-free site. The tax is administered by HM Revenue & Customs (and is known as the landfill tax) and it has been estimated that the tax will raise approximately £500m a year for the exchequer.

The scope of the tax etc. are set down in the Landfill Tax Regulations 1996 (SI 1527). The Landfill Tax (Contaminated Land) Order 1996 (SI 1529) sets out provisions for exempting waste generated as a result of cleaning up historically contaminated land. The tax is based on the weight of the waste to be deposited, thereby applying the polluter pays principle. It also aims to promote a more sustainable approach to waste management by providing an incentive to dispose of less waste and to recover more value from waste through recycling. All waste is currently taxed at £56 per tonne (November 2011), except for the following lower risk wastes where the tax is £2 per tonne:

• Naturally occurring rocks and soils, sand, gravel, clean building or demolition stone, top soil, peat, silt and dredgings
• Ceramic or cemented materials, glass, ceramics, concrete.

Processed or prepared mineral materials which have not been used or contaminated: moulding sands and clays, clay absorbents, manmade mineral fibres, silica and mica.

• Furnace slags.
• Low activity organic compounds.
• Gypsum and calcium sulphate based plaster, if disposed of in a separate containment cell on a mixed landfill site or in an inactive only site.

The locations of landfills in the United Kingdom are available online. For landfills in England and Wales see the "what's in your backyard" section of the Environment Agency website. For landfills in Scotland see the Waste infrastructure maps section of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency website. Data for landfills in Northern Ireland are held as lists in the Public Registers section of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency website.