Defra launches long-awaited landfill consultation

The UK government has unveiled two new consultations on wide-ranging proposals designed to limit the amount of waste that goes into landfill, while also launching a new strategy for managing hazardous waste in England.

The plans were laid out today by environment secretary Hilary Benn at a visit to the Bywaters Materials Recovery facility in Bow, London, which processes a mix of commingled and separate materials.

The first consultation, which has been heavily trailed by Benn in recent weeks, is based on a joint paper published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Welsh Assembly Government and includes proposals to restrict waste levels by banning businesses and individuals from sending recyclable materials, such as wood, card, food, glass, plastics, paper, textiles, metals, garden waste and electrical and electronic equipment, to landfill.

It also sets out alternative options for tackling landfill waste, such as ramping up current measures such as the landfill tax, the rollout of more ambitious recycling targets, or tougher rules regarding the pre-treatment of waste before it is sent to landfill.

"So much of what we throw away has an economic value or can be re-used, but instead we are burying it," Benn said. "We must take action to reduce the constant demand for new materials when we can recover materials from used products – this costs less money and saves the earth’s precious resources at the same time."

However, in a move designed to allay any fears that the consultation could lead to tough new waste rules for households, he added that any obligation to sort waste would fall primarily on waste collection authorities and businesses rather than householders.

"I want to make it easier for us all to do the right thing and I am making it very clear today that any obligation to sort waste would fall primarily on the waste collection authority and on businesses, and not the individual householder," he said.

The consultation was accompanied by a government commitment to identify new markets for recycled and recovered products and materials as well as create new jobs as the waste sector increases in size.

It likewise pledged to increase the amount of energy generated from waste and said it will publish a new Energy from Waste policy on the subject by the end of this year.

Its second consultation, meanwhile, focuses on how the UK can meet the EU's Landfill Directive targets to cut the amount of biodegradable municipal waste sent to landfill. Such targets will in future cover not only the waste managed by local authorities but also that dealt with by the private sector and experts fear the UK could struggle to meet the targets, putting it at risk of EU fines.

Finally, the government has also launched a new strategy for hazardous waste
management in England in a bid to clarify how it plans to divert such waste from landfill and boost levels of re-use and recycling.