Legislative issues

The Landfill Directive (referred to here as 'the directive') came into force in the UK in July 2004. The implementation of the directive spelt the end of the co-disposal of hazardous waste and biodegradable refuse in the same landfill. Instead, hazardous waste has to be pre-treated and deposited in special landfill sites or, if stable and non-reactive, in dedicated 'mono-cells' at ordinary landfills.

Remediation of contaminated sites in the UK for many years took advantage of inexpensive, convenient and plentiful landfill facilities. The traditional 'quick fix' to 'dig and dump' contaminated soil was recognised as being unsustainable. The main aims of 'the directive' were to dramatically reduce disposal of contaminated soils to landfill and to ensure those landfills that are needed are engineered, monitored and controlled, during both their operational and aftercare phases. As a result of these more stringent conditions, there has been a massive reduction in the number of landfills licensed to accept hazardous waste.

Waste Acceptance Criteria were implemented in July 2005 to control the nature of hazardous waste that can be landfilled. There are now numerical limit values covering substances in granular wastes, monolithic wastes and stable non-reactive hazardous wastes. There are Europe-wide controls that are assisting in the reduction of the environmental impact of landfilling activities.

In November 2004, statistics showed that there were approximately 66,000 hectares of brownfield land in England. The government's national target was, by 2008, to have 60% of new homes being built on previously developed land or through the conversion of existing buildings. Brownfield developers now need to cost in remediation requirements, increasing landfill gate prices, and significantly, haulage costs, as waste needs to be transported over far greater distances.

Increasing landfill prices and the cost of remediation not only impact the economics of site development, but also adversely impact the value of such land held in land banks as part of property portfolios. If developers choose not to redevelop brownfield sites because of increasing costs, the impacts of the continuing implementation of the Landfill Directive are likely to be counter-productive in terms of national environmental improvement. It will slow redevelopment of brownfield sites, especially where land values are relatively low, away from the south-east.

As the price of landfilling increases, it is hoped remedial methods should become more attractive to developers. In continental Europe, stockpiling of contaminated soils for treatment (in soil 'hospitals') is seen as an environmental benefit, as is the positive reuse of such treated soil. At present in the UK, under the same European Directives, treated soil is classified as waste and in many cases will not be reused as fill in the original excavation it came from. If the original objectives of the directive are to be accomplished the regulatory barriers preventing or limiting the reuse of recovered soil will need to be lifted.