Comment on DEFRA response to consultation on landfill restrictions
Posted 9 Sep 2010
Yesterday (September 8), the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) ruled out introducing material-specific landfill bans in England "at this stage" and said it will instead consider how to achieve its zero waste goals within the ongoing waste policy review.
Commenting on the announcement, Dan Cooke, Viridor external affairs manager said: "Viridor welcomes this common-sense decision in the current economic climate. Landfill bans at this time would have been unnecessary and highly impractical.
"The landfill tax escalator and landfill diversion targets, together with increased awareness about environmental issues and climate change are driving higher levels of recycling and landfill diversion without the need for material-specific bans.
"It is more important to improve the planning system to allow the next generation of recycling and waste treatment facilities to be constructed and operational in a timely manner. There remains an obvious need for infrastructure to deal with the waste which can potentially be diverted from landfill and that is where the priorities in policy and decision-making should lie if we are to truly maximise resource efficiency.
"It is also important to acknowledge that landfill is still a safe and effective solution to dispose of residual wastes for which recycling and energy recovery are not economically or environmentally viable."
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