Waste projects

Introduction

The use of landfill sites as a main route for waste disposal has shifted since the mid-1990s as availability of sites has declined. The impact of waste management on climate change has also come evident making landfill less attractive. Fewer landfill sites are being opened in the UK, and capacity will continue to fall.

The Waste Framework Directive (Directive 2008/98/EC) (WFD 2008) Article 4(1) sets a 'waste hierarchy' that applies across the European Union (EU). This hierarchy sets out the order in which waste prevention and management should be prioritised:

  1. prevention

  2. preparing for re-use

  3. recycling

  4. other recovery, eg energy recovery, and

  5. disposal

Diagrammatically, this is as follows:

Source: With thanks to Waste Aware Business, see Waste Aware.

Following Brexit, the WFD 2008 no longer directly applies in the UK. However, the implementing regulations, including the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011, SI 2011/988, continue to apply and retain the key features of the WFD 2008.

This hierarchy drives waste management policy in the UK and therefore also, to a large part, drives the market in waste projects.

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