Strategy & Legislation: Legislation/Directives - EU Landfill Directive
The Landfill Directive represents a step change in the way we dispose of waste in this country and will help drive waste up the hierarchy through waste minimisation and increased levels of recycling and recovery. An electronic copy of the Directive can be found at: http://europa.eu.int/
The Directive's overall aim is "to prevent or reduce as far as possible negative effects on the environment, in particular the pollution of surface water, groundwater, soil and air, and on the global environment, including the greenhouse effect, as well as any resulting risk to human health, from the landfilling of waste, during the whole life-cycle of the landfill".
The Directive has provisions covering location of landfills, and technical and engineering requirements for aspects such as water control and leachate management, protection of soil and water and methane emissions control.
More detailed information, for downloading, on the Directive, its impacts
on the way we manage waste and how we are implementing its provisions
are outlined in the landfill directive briefing
paper 
(47 KB).
The Directive sets demanding targets to reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal landfilled. A Landfill Allowances Trading Scheme has been proposed for England to help the UK meet these targets. The allowances will be tradable between authorities allowing the burden of meeting the Landfill Directive's targets to be met in the most cost effective way. A consultation on this scheme can be found at www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/landfill/index.htm.
The European Commission have published a report to the Council and the
European Parliament on the national strategies for the reduction of biodegradable
waste going to landfills pursuant to article 5(1) of the Directive. This
report also describes progress towards meeting the targets in article
5(2) described above. See:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/waste/pdf/reports/com_2005_105_en.pdf
The Council Decision on Waste Acceptance Criteria, agreed in Council in December 2002, set out the standards that waste must meet to be accepted at one of the three classes of landfill - hazardous, non-hazardous or inert - prescribed by the Landfill Directive. A consultation paper on this can be found at www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/landfill-regs/index.htm.
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Page last modified:
19 July 2005
Page published: 5 February 2003