Landfill Directive, Contaminated Land and Construction Waste

The introduction of the Landfill Directive in 2002 and the implementation of another
phase of these regulations in 2004 has had a big impact on how landfill sites are
managed, and consequently on the waste producers, construction industry, regeneration
projects etc. The objectives of the Landfill Directive are to minimize the pollution of
surface water, groundwater, soil, air, and the adverse effects on the greenhouse as well as
to minimize the risks to human health during the whole life cycle of the landfill. The
Landfill Directive aims to achieve these objectives through waste minimization, an
increased level of recycling and recovery, provisions for landfill locations, and technical
and engineering requirements for water control, methane emission control, leachate
management, and protection of soil. In order to achieve this, Landfill Directive has set
some higher standards for the operational landfill sites and has set demanding targets.
Currently, there are over 200no landfill sites, which do not accept hazardous waste, and
only 12no landfill sites that accept hazardous waste in the whole of UK. It is worthwhile
noting that the amount of hazardous waste produced in UK is increased from 5 to over 7
million tones per year due to the new definitions of hazardous waste introduced by the
new phase of Landfill Directive regulations in 2004. Referring to some statistics taken
two years ago, half of the hazardous fill goes to landfill; the remaining half is treated on
site. About 20% of the hazardous waste produced during a year results from the
construction and demolition activities. The restriction on the number of available
commercial landfill sites by the regulations set by the Landfill Directive and the uneven
geographical distribution of the landfill sites across the UK together with other factors
will increase the rate of disposal of hazardous waste and the landfill tax. This will among
the others have significant impacts on regeneration programmes and housing
developments.
An example of the likely impacts on Brownfield regeneration projects is represented by
some studies commissioned by English Partnership on National Coalfield Programmes,
which identifies an increase in land remediation costs ranging from 100-180% for both
small and large-scale projects.

Another example is an analysis on the financial impact on the housing developments on

North West produced by the House Building Industry, which identifies an increase in
costs of 132 millions due to the remediation, clearance requirements.
Finally, an analysis on the financial impacts on the remediation of the gas holder sites
owned by Second Sites revealed that the waste disposal costs will double and the waste
disposal costs make 50% of the site remediation.
The increased costs involved with the land remediation, and waste disposal will require a
better planning policy, a better management of the waste whether from construction or
regeneration projects and an increase of interest on innovative remediation techniques,
and recycling of the construction waste. On the other side, these will lead to an increased
incentive to practice illegal waste disposal, which would require a higher level of control
than the one at the present.
From a wider spectrum, Environment Agency has recommended that developers adapt a
Site Waste Management Plan for each new development. This will have to address
practices that minimize the risk of immediate and future environmental pollution, and
harm to human being; practices that minimize the amount of waste produced and finally
implement process-based remedial technologies for land and groundwater treatment.
Within the UK Contaminated Land legal framework, there is a clear acceptance of the
use of risk assessment (source-pathway target) to evaluate the site-specific impact of any
identified contamination. In this light, risk assessment will become an integral part of and
overall cost effective Remedial Strategy and Site Waste Management Plan for site
development.
As part of this whole process, the disposal of asbestos cement bound material is receiving
particular attention in the sense that DEFRA is willing to consider the disposal of these
materials in separate dedicated cells in non-hazardous landfill without the need for further
treatment.
In addition, particular attention is shown to the remediation of land contaminated by
invasive plants such as Japanese Knotweed, which involves disposal of quite large
volumes of contaminated soil. Environment Agency provides guidance on how to utilize
pre-treatment methods on site, such as spraying with herbicides at certain periods of the
year, in order to minimize the amount of the contaminated soil to be disposed.

Among the practices that minimize the amount of waste produced, we can identify the
recycling of construction waste. Most of the construction waste is a result of the
demolition process and the introduction of the Demolition Protocol provides guidance on
how to perform a building audit, identify the potential for material recovery and
demonstrates resource efficiency to project teams in terms of associated cost benefits and
improved environmental sustainability. The UK governments Best Value initiative
sets statutory standards, which Local Authorities have to work toward. In this light, Local
Authorities are adapting the Demolition Protocol and considering that as a requirement
while consenting planning permissions for new developments. An example of this is the
incorporation of the Demolition Protocol by the London Borough of BRENT in the
supplementary planning guidance, which recently has been implemented in a major
development project at Wembley by the developer Quintain.
On the other side, process-based remedial technologies such as in-situ and ex-situ
treatment, i.e. biodegradation, thermal treatment or site containment such as ground
stabilization, and capping will become a cheaper alternative to disposal for hazardous
waste. In addition, where there is a need to remediate hazardous waste onsite, applying
such technologies to other non-hazardous problem areas will become a more cost
effective option.
A new inter-service consultation draft of the Thematic Strategy on the Protection of soil
was released for clearance within the European Commission. This strategy contains
proposals for a framework directive on soil protection, and it covers land sealing,
contamination, erosion, decline of organic matters, salinization, compaction and stability
are treated together and finally biodiversity.
Finally, it should be said that the impact this legislation will have on the way in which
hazardous waste is addressed should be incorporated at the early stages of any
development project and should involve adequate planning.