Drop in UK landfill tonnages

Archiv – The amount of municipal waste sent to landfill in the UK has fallen both in terms of tonnage and the proportion of total waste, according to new provisional figures – the first to be released from the government’s web-based WasteDataFlow system.The amount of municipal waste sent to landfill in the UK has fallen both in terms of tonnage and the proportion of total waste, according to new provisional figures – the first to be released from the government’s web-based WasteDataFlow system.
Statistics for England suggest the volume of waste sent to landfill fell by over 1 million tonnes – with 19.9 million tonnes going to landfill in 2004/05. The proportion of municipal waste sent to landfill dipped from 72% in 2003/04 to 67% the following year.
The greatest regional reduction in waste sent to landfill between 2004/05 and 2003/04 was seen in the North West, although the region still tops the list in terms of waste landfilling volumes. As for recycling and composting, the East Midlands showed the greatest increase, with recycling figures rising by 39% between 2003/04 and 2004/05. There is also evidence of a slow-down in the growth of municipal waste being produced by England as a whole: average annual increases have dropped to 2.6% in the last five years compared to 3.2% in the five preceding years.
Environment Minister Ben Bradshaw described the figures as an ’extremely encouraging development’ and an indication that more waste was being recycled and reused, as well as being prevented in the first place. Mr Bradshaw said: ’Diverting increasing amounts of waste from landfill through recycling is no doubt thanks in part to better quality council services, including greatly expanded and more efficient kerbside recycling collection schemes.’