We are the champions (unfortunately)!

“Recycling mania” notwithstanding, the UK has the dubious honour of heading the European Union league for dumping household waste in landfill.

The Local Government Association (LGA) has published figures showing that Britain is the “dustbin of Europe”. Households in the UK send more than 26.8million tonnes of rubbish to landfill every year – that's almost half a tonne for every home in the country. We dump 7million tonnes more rubbish into landfill than any other country in Europe: Germany, with a population 25% larger than the UK, disposes of less than half that amount.into the ground.

The countries with the highest amount of household rubbish thrown into landfill each year are:

• UK:     around 27million tonnes
• Italy:     around 20million tonnes
• Spain:    around 17million tonnes
• France:     around 13million tonnes
• Germany:    around 10million tonnes

The LGA has launched a War on Waste Campaign, urging a radical overhaul of the amount of rubbish produced and the way it is dealt with. Council leaders warn that an area the size of Warwick (109 square miles) is already taken up by landfill, and if the current trend continues it is estimated the country will run out of landfill space in less than nine years.

Councils, and consequently the taxpayer, are facing fines of up to £150 per tonne of rubbish that is sent to be dumped into landfill.

Councillor Paul Bettison, Chairman of the LGA Environment Board, said:
“Central government should give councils ’save-as-you-throw’ powers to help encourage people to take more responsibility for the way they throw their rubbish away. If save-as-you-throw were introduced it would mean a reduction in council tax and a separate charge for waste collection. It would also require a change in the law.

He added, “Ultimately we must make sure less waste is produced in the first place.
“It is time manufacturers were made to take full responsibility for the life cycle of their products. It is totally unacceptable that the council tax payer is picking up the bill for business. The government should ensure that it is the polluter, and not people, that pay.”

Source: LGA press release. See www.lga.gov.uk for more information