Avoiding Landfill and Incineration
Avoiding Landfill and IncinerationThe use of landfill for waste management is a finite option. It has provided years of easy waste management; nobody had to put any effort into separating materials for recycling and it all went into a neat hole in the ground.
Never mind the leachate that polluted the rivers, the methane (which thankfully now is being burned to generate electricity) or the localised impact on the communities living near to these sites. Burying waste that others have generated was easy! But the viable landfill is running out and driven by EU legislation the UK has to now think about diverting ‘materials’ away from landfill.
The most obvious next easy step for many waste management solutions would be to burn all the rubbish, but this creates a ceiling on the amount of material that can be diverted!
Landfill and Incineration are easy options. They do not challenge the public, business or Local Authority to change their attitudes to waste. They allow us to waste, waste. These processes of disposal support the transport of waste around the country, and in doing so promote a culture of out of sight out of mind (unless your are unfortunate enough to live near a waste site)
The Proximity Principle of waste management encourages us to deal with waste as close to the source of production as possible to minimise transportation (and its associated pollution) and achieve localised self-reliance. If an electorate doesn't want incineration in their own backyard then maybe the Local Authorities have to develop alternative systems that are acceptable.
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