Government sets out plans to ban recyclable materials from landfill

DEFRA and the Welsh Assembly have published proposals to impose an outright ban on a range of recyclable materials being sent to landfill by local authorities.

In its consultation paper, Consultation on the Introduction of Restrictions on the Landfilling of Certain Wastes, DEFRA and the National Assembly of Wales considers the case for placing further  restrictions on sending paper and card, food, textiles, metals, wood, garden waste, glass, plastics and electrical equipment to landfill. The paper also sets out plans to introduce a legal requirement to sort waste before it can be sent to landfill, whether or not a ban is introduced.

Enforcement of a ban would be similar to that for materials which are already prohibited from landfill, such as liquids, hazardous wastes and tyres. This would include the introduction of new criminal offences, new and extended visual inspection regimes and regulatory guidance, although DEFRA said that it would prefer a pragmatic and partnership-based approach.

Alternatives to an outright ban mooted by the paper include:

• Relying on current measures such as landfill tax to continue to reduce landfill;
• Introducing a sorting or tougher pre-treatment requirement without a landfill ban
• Introducing producer responsibility requirements for certain wastes.

The consultation process follows an agreement between the UK Government and the European Commission that the UK should change its approach to meeting its obligations under the Landfill Directive. The paper also contains plans to develop a new interpretation of the definition of municipal waste and to revise the 1995 baseline and targets and reporting and monitoring obligations.

The consultation closes on 10th June and can be accessed by clicking here.