Landfill trends

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Landfill disposal in the south of England -
Trends from the past five years Ryan
Woodard Waste Energy Research Group School of
the Environment University of Brighton
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Acknowledgements This research has been funded by
Viridor Waste Management Ltd through the landfill
tax credit scheme, through the Brighton
Environmental Body
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In the UK approximately .... 83 of municipal
waste 66 of commercial waste 47 of industrial
waste ..... enters landfill sites Why
? Suitable capacity Cheap Simple
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• Legislation
• Environmental and social impacts
• Making Waste Work (1995) - set 25 recycling
  target by 2000
• Landfill Tax (1996) - placed a 7/tonne tax
• Landfill Directive (1999) - reduce biodegradable
  municipal waste entering landfill to 75 of 1995
  levels by 2010
• Waste Strategy 2000 - extended 25 recycling
  target until 2005 and recover value from 40
• Individual local authorities have been set
  statutory recycling targets based upon
  performance in 1998/99

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• Brighton Hove City East Sussex
• 740,000 population
• 1.6 million tonnes of waste generated in
  1999/2000
• Of controlled arisings
• 50 construction and demolition waste
• 24 municipal waste
• 22 non-inert industrial waste
• 10 of municipal waste recycled
• Majority of waste enters landfill

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• What changes have been experienced in waste
  entering landfill ?
• The aim of this research is to
• Quantify the composition of waste entering
  landfill
• Assess the quantity of material that could
  potentially be diverted
• Monitor any changes in waste composition
• Assess the impact of legislation on waste
  composition

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Methodology Phase 1 Weighbridge Waste
sector Weight received net of waste Origin of
waste Description of the waste by producer Phase
2 Tip face Vehicle type Homogeneous nature of
waste Compaction of waste Composition of waste
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• Results
• Waste entering the site is increasing - average
  load 5.1 tonnes in 1996 to 5.7 tonnes in 2000
  (11 increase)
• In both surveys over 60 of vehicles travelled
  between 16-32km to deposit waste

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• By calculated weight
• Bagged waste 12 increase
• Timber 100 increase
• Soils 88 reduction
• Vehicles delivering CD waste 77 reduction
• A reduction has been recorded in materials
  associated with CD practice

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Estimate of inert material entering exempt
sites (Ecotec, 2000) Development
project Million tonnes Golf courses 9.3 Ame
nity bunds/landscaping 3.8 Infrastructure 1.9
Other leisure developments 1.8 Land
reclamation 1.0 Lake developments 0.6 Other
developments 4.3 Total 22.6 Estimated in
East Sussex 479,000 tonnes of inert waste enters
exempt sites
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• Conclusion
• The quantity of waste entering landfill is
  increasing - landfill is still a cheap option
  average charge 20-25 tonne including tax (Euros
  31-39, 29-36) - some areas 15
• A reduction in CD waste has been observed -
  largely an inert material and can be diverted to
  exempt sites. Estimated 22.6 million tonnes is
  entering exempt sites (Ecotec, 2000)
• Legislation seems to have had a negligible
  impact but Waste Strategy 2000 and European
  Landfill Directive still in their infancy.
• Future research will monitor the impact of this
  legislation