Treating non-hazardous wastes for landfill – “Your Waste - Your Responsibility”

Overview
From 30 October 2007, non-hazardous waste must be treated before it can be landfilled. This requirement stems from the Landfill Directive, which aims to reduce our reliance on landfill as a waste management option and minimise the environmental impact of landfill sites. To meet this aim it is important that waste producers find better ways to manage their waste. Now is a good time for waste producers to review how they manage their waste, including whether it needs to be produced at all and whether what they do produce needs to be landfilled.

What the Environment Agency expects from industry
The Environment Agency wants waste producers to take responsibility for their waste and make simple improvements in resource and waste management to deliver a better environment. Many wastes currently landfilled are already treated beforehand and therefore already comply with the law. Even in these cases it is still good practice to consider if there are cost-effective ways to increase the amount of waste that is recovered and hence not sent for landfill.There are many straightforward ways to treat waste that give real environmental benefits. For example, by collecting waste streams separately and recycling one or more of the separated components. Alternatively waste management companies can treat the waste on behalf of waste producers before it is sent to landfill. Again, for many wastes a suitable treatment might be to sort the waste at a transfer station with a proportion of the sorted waste being recycled. For waste that is sent to landfill, we consider it good practice for a written declaration to be given to landfill operators confirming that treatment has taken place.

I have attached a copy of the Environmental Agency…

1. Factsheet for general business
2. Plus a copy of the full guidance

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