Landfill design, monitoring and performance assessment approaches in the UK have developed considerably over the last few years.  The landfill industry has now been brought under the Pollution, Prevention and Control Regulations, and there is a strong emphasis on improved protection of the environment.  Waste policy changes in Europe promote re-use, re-cycling and reduction in waste.  However, there are a number of waste streams which will always require landfill and these, smaller, more concentrated waste streams have the potential to cause extreme damage to the environment unless properly managed and processed.

The growing volume of regulation and statutory guidance provided by UK regulators presents a serious challenge to the waste industry.   This includes the ban on co-disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous waste, the need to pre-treat many waste streams and the requirement to classify wastes prior to disposal at landfill.  As a result, the implications of the new Landfill Regulations are being felt throughout the entire waste industry by operators, waste producers and the quarrying industry that has traditionally restored sand and gravel pits with inert waste.

A key outcome of these recent changes in guidance is the need to develop stronger links between hydrogeological risk assessment, landfill design and long term monitoring.  This requires teams from different disciplines to work closely together to achieve the desired outcome of well designed and operated landfills that have no significant impacts on the environment.  In particular, there is a need to review hydrogeological risk assessments against operational data every four years and this keeps these assessments current in waste operators minds.