UK landfills: The dirty facts

Timon Singh

"The Dustbin of Europe" was how the UK was described in 2007. Almost three years ago, Britain was reported as disposing of more rubbish in UK landfills than any other EU state. The Local Government Association (LGA) estimated the UK put 27 million tonnes of waste into landfills every year, 7 million more than any other country and that the area given over to landfill space was about the size of Warwick. Not just that, but we would run out of landfill space by 2016.

Desperate measures were needed, and ever since initiatives have been implemented around the country to make sure food and recyclable waste are properly and environmentally disposed of.

However, as a country the UK is still throwing out millions of tonnes of food that goes directly into landfills. Last year, 5.3 million tonnes of food and drink that could have been consumed, were disposed of in landfills. This wasted food added up to £480 per household per year, or £680 per year for families. In total, this equates to £12 billion in food waste.

It's not just the waste that damages the environment, but also the carbon emissions - the wasted food mounts up to 20 million tonnes (22 million tons) of carbon dioxide emissions. That's about 2.4 percent of greenhouse gas emissions associated with all consumption, or about the same carbon emissions of two million UK citizens each year.

Waste or energy?

In order to reduce the amount of rubbish that goes into landfills, the Government has implemented a Landfill Directive which lays out targets for reducing the amount of waste put into the ground.

They include ensuring that by 2010, the the waste sent to landfills should be 75 per cent of that sent in 1995.

But how is this done? Firstly, a site is needed. Once prepared and equipped with essential containment systems and structures. These include liner systems, gas pipes, leachate collection control and monitoring boreholes. These containment, control and processing systems stay in operation for up to approximately 50 years after the landfill is closed, ensuring the landfill's stability and the protection of the environment. (1)

When waste arrives, it is weighed and its' contents checked to ensure it complies with the landfill operating licence.(2) This waste is then tipped into the ‘tipping face' of the landfill. This is then compacted by specialist machinery and covered with layers of cover material, such as soil.

This layer helps to reduce odour produced by the waste and deter scavengers, like rodents, flies and birds. At the end of each day the operational area of the landfill is completely covered with a layer of cover material.(3)

A common misapprehension is that waste is simply dumped and buried in landfills, but actually much of it is naturally broken down by microbes under anaerobic (absence of oxygen) conditions. This decomposition, combined with rainwater filtering through the landfill, results in the production of liquid, called leachate, and gas.(4)

This gas is mostly carbon dioxide and methane and due to its harmful nature is often burnt off or directed to an on-site energy generation plant, where it is converted into electricity, which is most commonly exported to the National Grid.(5) The liquid is pumped into storage tanks where it is treated and clean before being discharged into the sewer.(6)

In order to reduce the number of landfills the country has, the amount of waste we produce needs to be cut down. However, that is not easy when, currently, the largest lake in Britain could be filled with rubbish from the UK in eight months.

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