Landfill closures

According to BDS Marketing Research Ltd, 70 landfill sites in Great Britain are expected to close within the next two years. These sites represent 20% of the total number of landfill sites operated by waste-management companies. This means that by 2008 there will be less than 300 landfill sites remaining in the country, excluding small inert waste sites.

It is estimated that the sites that are to close currently landfill nearly 10 million tonnes of inert, household and other wastes. This volume will have to be absorbed by transferring to other landfill sites and employing a number of waste-management methods such as composting and recycling.

The reason behind the closure of these sites is twofold. Increases in the landfill tax are seeing waste streams diverted away from landfill. Waste-management companies are also having major difficulty in obtaining planning consents for additional void space. In 2005 less than 15 million m3 of additional landfill void was granted. This represents only a few months capacity at current rates of infill. Most planning applications at landfill sites today relate to the development of other waste-management facilities, landfill gas or extensions of time, rather than proposals for additional void space.

The monthly BDS waste-planning report is available on an annual subscription. Details of the landfill sites due to close over the next two years are available on the BDS landfill database. This database includes information on company name and landfill site, addresses, planning developments, estimated void space and life, and estimated waste inputs for the last three years.