The Crisis The waste crisis in the United Kingdom is escalating, with landfills emitting foul odours and toxic emissions from waste incineration polluting the air. Illegal dumping, with over one million incidents reported in 2023 alone, is cluttering streets and homes. Inadequate disposal practices contribute to pollution, health risks, and climate change, potentially costing USD 640.3 billion globally by 2050. The situation is dire, with the environmental and health impacts of waste mismanagement becoming increasingly unmanageable. Robust policies and sustainable practices are urgently needed to address these issues and protect our generation and generations to come. Immediate action is critical to [...]
Read MoreWe are introducing new waste carbonisation technology with zero toxic emissions as a game-changing solution to reduce greenhouse gases by mining landfill and reclaiming redundant and contaminated land. John Bell, Managing Director of GreenMine, said: “Our technology goes way beyond the usual benefits of a waste recycling process and has huge potential for us to address the housing shortage by cleaning up existing landfills near residential areas, enabling the safe re-development of these areas for affordable housing and leisure amenities. “We’re aiming to eradicate landfill sites and create sustainable urban living capable of generating energy, sequestration of carbon and aesthetically blending with [...]
Read MoreA rise in the use of landfill for biodegradable municipal waste should “create some urgency” over Government funding of alternatives, the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (Larac) has said. Reacting to Defra’s UK statistics on waste, Larac said the increase in UK biodegradable municipal waste sent to landfill from 6.1m tonnes in 2020 to 6.8m tonnes in 2021 indicated it was unlikely that the target of near-elimination of landfill for these wastes by 2028 would be met. Larac said Defra had asked authorities in England for evidence to support the development of policies that deliver this from 2028. “This is only five years away, [...]
Read MoreNear Dudley, 72 homes are being built on a former landfill once full of hundreds of tonnes of toxic waste. A £100m regeneration plan in Gloucestershire has stalled amid accusations it’ll be built on a weapons dump. A 263-home estate in Crewe, Cheshire, could be ripped down amid claims it was built on contaminated land Entire neighbourhoods that will one day be home to hundreds of families are being built on ‘toxic wastelands’ branded England’s ‘most contaminated’, MailOnline can today reveal. Councils under pressure to construct more homes are now converting disused landfills, allegedly riddled with potentially lethal toxins like asbestos, arsenic [...]
Read MoreReports claimed ministers would hold a consultation to cut ‘wishcycling’ – the act of putting the wrong things in the recycling bin while hoping they can be reused. But the government insists they just want to make he process simpler. The government is planning to “make recycling easier” by getting councils to collect the same materials from your doorstep. Newspaper reports claimed ministers would ask people to put fewer items into recycling bins to reduce “wishcycling” – where people put items they hope are recyclable into the bin but inadvertently ruin a batch of waste for processing. According to the i newspaper, the [...]
Read MoreReporting requirements for the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme for packaging come into force today. Plans to make it easier for consumers to recycle packaging waste move a step closer today, as reporting requirements for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) come into force. Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR) will make firms that supply household packaging responsible for the costs of dealing with packaging waste, moving costs away councils and council taxpayers. Producers will be required to pay for the collection and disposal costs of household packaging they supply when it becomes waste. This will encourage producers to reduce the amount of packaging they place [...]
Read MoreLocal government survey shows 26 council sites already spilling waste on to cliffs and into sea Hundreds of ageing landfill dumps on the coast of England containing plastics, chemicals and other waste are a ticking timebomb threatening to leach pollution on to beaches and into the sea, new research shows. The waste sites date back 100 years in some cases, and little is known about what has been dumped in them. Climate breakdown with associated rising sea levels and flooding are increasing the risk of a cocktail of pollutants entering the sea. More than three-quarters of the landfill dumps identified in a survey by the [...]
Read MoreThe exchequer secretary to the treasury, James Cartlidge MP, defended the government’s enforcement of landfill tax fraud during a debate in parliament yesterday (13 January). Mr Cartlidge highlighted that His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) “has learned lessons from previous operational activity and is developing a number of criminal investigations into those involved in waste crime”. He also stated that HMRC has deployed more resources, doubling staff numbers to 50, to increase the number of civil investigations of landfill tax non-compliance. He acknowledged that it is a “relatively difficult tax to enforce”. In response to criticism from MPs, he argued that the tax [...]
Read MoreWorthing Borough Council wants to convert the “dormant” site at Decoy Farm in Willowbrook Road into a seven-hectare business park. Last year the council asked for comments from businesses and the community on its intention to redevelop the site for use as commercial, industrial, storage or distribution units. The council said there was “widespread support” for the need for more commercial units in the borough. Detailed plans have now been submitted for 18 modern units on the land between existing units in Dominion Way and Worthing’s household waste and recycling centre. The units would be designed to require low levels of energy to heat [...]
Read MoreMore than 70 items of clothing are thrown away every year from the average wardrobe, a new survey has found. In a survey by British Wool, nearly two-thirds of people admitted to throwing items of clothing into landfill that could be recycled or sent to a charity shop. The figures suggest an extremely high turnover in the wardrobes of the average shopper. The survey found the average person owns just 76 items of clothing but throws away 72 every year. The average British person buys more new items of clothing every year than any other European country. Charity shop donations may not solve the [...]
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