Landfill Space Quickly Running Out

According to the latest figures that have been released, Britain still retains the unwanted tag of being known as the “dustbin of Europe.”

Despite legislation, fines, taxes and sustainability issues, Britain still the dumps more household waste into landfill than any other country. More worryingly, statistics further say that if this rate continues, Britain will rapidly run out of landfill space in under eight years. That means that by 2018, when England could be hosting the football World Cup, there could be no space to put our rubbish.

At its recent annual conference in Bournemouth, research unveiled by the Local Government Association (LGA), showed that households in the UK send over 18.8 million tonnes of rubbish to landfill every year. Compared to our European counterparts that is two million more tonnes than any other country in the EU. The closest to the UK is Italy which sends 16 million tonnes, followed closely by Spain at 15 million tonnes and France at around 12 million tonnes. At the current rate, with just 650 million cubic metres left in landfill capacity Britain is rapidly hurtling towards its landfill limit by 2018.

It is one of the reasons that the Government has raised the amount of tax paid by local councils to help control the problem. Landfill tax paid by councils increased to 48GBP per tonne on April 1 and will subsequently rise by 8GBP per tonne each year to 2014/15. By 2020, the government, and consequently taxpayers, will face fines of up to 180GBP million a year if landfill targets are not met. This means that recycling and waste management should now make it onto the agenda of every household, shops, businesses and manufacturers. Unless the amount of rubbish dumped in the ground is dramatically reduced there could be some serious consequences for everyone. Every single person in the UK now has a crucial role to play in protecting the environment and in reducing the amount of rubbish that is produced and thrown away. Local government offices need to work with householders, manufacturers and businesses to create awareness of recycling and waste management. With councils already working on tighter budgets, it is more important than ever before to work together to make sure as much rubbish as possible is recycled. This is the reason why the UK’s largest wheeled bin manufacturer, MGB Plastics, works with local authorities and waste management companies to increase awareness of these issues.

MGB Plastics is unique as a company in the sector as it not only collects decommissioned wheelie bins but it also dismantles, recycles and reuses all of the waste material. The issue of recycling and waste management was previously only a worry and concern for the Government and local authorities. But, the scale of the problem now means that today it is the collective responsibilities of everyone from households to businesses to ensure that it is an issue that is taken seriously.