Environmental News - Britain wins 'Dustbin of Europe' award
Research by the Local Government Association shows that households in the UK sent more than 22.6million tonnes of rubbish to landfill. The figures also show that Britain sent the same amount of rubbish to landfill as the eighteen EU countries with the lowest landfill rates combined - despite having almost twice the population of the UK.
Council leaders will warn that an area the size of Warwick, which covers 109 square miles, is already taken up by landfill, and if the current trend continues it is estimated the country will run out of landfill space in less than nine years time.
The countries with the highest amount of household rubbish thrown into landfill for the most recent comparable year (2005) are:-
- The UK which dumps around 22.6 million tonnes
- Italy which dumps around 17.6 million tonnes
- Spain which dumps around 14.2 million tonnes
- France which dumps around 12 million tonnes
- Poland which dumps around 8.6 million tonnes
While the amount of rubbish being thrown into landfill by Britain has declined markedly over the previous twelve months, European countries have also been drastically cutting the amount they send to landfill, leaving Britain still at the top of the rubbish heap.
Local government leaders warn that unless bold reforms are made by householders, shops, businesses and manufacturers - recycling rates will not rise fast enough to meet the EU Landfill Directive and help tackle climate change and will hit the pockets of taxpayers.
Councils, and consequently the taxpayer, are facing fines of up to £150 per tonne of rubbish that is sent to be dumped into landfill sites. According to the National Audit Office, fines of up to £200million could hit taxpayers for the failure to cut the amount that is thrown in landfills.
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EnviroFutures Ltd, Sheffield Technology Park, 60 Shirland Lane, Sheffield
South Yorkshire, S9 3SP; Tel: 0114 2213516 Email: info@envirofutures.com
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Local government leaders warn that unless bold reforms are made by householders, shops, businesses and manufacturers - recycling rates will not rise fast enough to meet the EU Landfill Directive and help tackle climate change and will hit the pockets of taxpayers.
Councils, and consequently the taxpayer, are facing fines of up to £150 per tonne of rubbish that is sent to be dumped into landfill sites. According to the National Audit Office, fines of up to £200million could hit taxpayers for the failure to cut the amount that is thrown in landfills.
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EnviroFutures Ltd, Sheffield Technology Park, 60 Shirland Lane, Sheffield
South Yorkshire, S9 3SP; Tel: 0114 2213516 Email: info@envirofutures.com
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