Practical implications of the Landfill Directive

The intention of the Landfill Directive is to drive wastes away from landfill and further up the waste management hierarchy by implementing a raft of measures that are intended to make alternatives to landfill most cost effective and therefore more desirable to the waste producer.

These measures will increase the costs of waste disposal and are intended to drive the use of waste minimisation methodologies as well as the recycling and reuse of wastes prior to the consideration of disposal.

Since the introduction of this legisaltion, the cost of disposal to landfill has started to rise. This has been most noticable in the costs for the disposal of hazardous wastes with increases of up to 80 per cent so far. Further increases are expected following the introduction of WAC in July.

This has been due in part to the considerable reduction in the number of sites, and partly due to the raised standards of engineering and operation now required on waste sites. The introduction of WAC and its elaborate sampling and analysis regimes will push costs up further over the next twelve months.

The subsequent implementation of the pre-treatment requirements will also have the effect of increasing landfill costs still further over the medium term. This, coupled with the increase in Landfill Tax, will increase landfill disposal costs still further.