Login for members – logging in gives you access to the ReOpT tool and enhanced directory searching for public sector users.
Don't have a log-in?
Register Now
Forgotten your password?
Click here for a reminder
Close
The Waste Hierarchy
More things to do
Reject to Landfill
You can’t fail to have seen the messages from your local council about recycling. What’s that about? The simple answer is that they’ve been set targets by the Government (and above that the EU) to get recycling rates up to certain levels by certain dates.
That isn’t necessarily because recycling is a good thing that we ought to do anyway – some recycling uses more energy than it saves – but has more to do with what would happen if we didn’t recycle, namely, put the waste into holes in the ground.
This has traditionally been more of a problem on the continent than in the UK, but even here, we’ve only got a certain amount of space and increasing numbers of people with their own quota of refuse to handle. Furthermore, despite increasingly stringent rules for managing landfill sites, the waste that goes in degrades and gives off greenhouse gases such as methane, which is even more potent than carbon dioxide.
To put this in perspective, the domestic waste in 2007 amounted to about 28 million tonnes. A further 30 million tonnes or so comes from Commercial & Industrial, mostly retail, food processing, factories, and another 60 million tonnes from the building trade, construction and demolition.