ESA criticises EU landfill directive

The European Union's proposed landfill waste directive is neither environmentally sustainable nor financially viable, according to the trade association covering Britain's waste management industry. The directive is 'overly prescriptive' and could create more problems than it solves, claims the Environmental Services Association (ESA).

The directive is intended to reduce the impact that landfilled waste has on the environment. It includes provisions for all waste to be pre-treated before landfill to minimise the proportion of biodegradable wastes, which will the commission claims limit landfill gases' contribution to global warming. Another provision will remove all hazardous wastes from municipal landfill any that cannot be disposed of by other means will be sent to dedicated, permanent landfill sites.

But the ESA sees this as a recipe for disaster, and dismisses the EC's argument. 'Claims that the directive is needed to avoid increasing waste exports for landfilling and ensuring sites are not posing a threat to the environment are nonsense,' says ESA policy executive Alan Potter. 'Controls on transport and permitting already exist.'

Biodegradable waste limits are likely to be ineffective, claims Potter. An EC paper on methane reduction found that 95 per cent of methane generated on a landfill site can be captured and used as an energy source, he points out; moreover, as much as 30 per cent of the carbon content of biodegradable waste remains locked in the landfill. If it were incinerated instead, all the carbon would be converted to CO2. 'Gas control systems on landfills capable of releasing significant quantities of methane would be more effective than setting arbitrary biodegradable waste percentages,' he claims.

Meanwhile, Potter adds, the proposals for hazardous waste sites could threaten the structure of the UK waste industry. 'UK landfill is largely managed by the private sector,' he points out, 'but operators would be unlikely to accept the unlimited liabilities posed by hazardous waste only sites. The insurance, liability and clean-up costs are unquantifiable.' Moreover, he claims, pre-treatment of hazardous waste will concentrate the dangerous elements of that waste, possibly causing greater environmental problems.