Even with economic growth there has been another big fall in standard rate landfilling in the UK. Landfill tax data was published on 27th August for period up to June 2014. In the 12 months to 30th June just 16.6m tonnes of non-inert waste was landfilled compared to 18.6m for the year before. By 2020 non-inert landfilling may be down to around 6-8m tonnes a year. Data available from: https://www.uktradeinfo.com/Statistics/Pages/TaxAndDutybulletins.aspx
This data further undermines the notion that more incineration capacity will be needed to meet biodegradable landfill diversion targets. Not only has landfill fallen significantly, but the best ways to avoid biodegradable waste going to landfill is to take it out of the residual stream. As such, it is important that there are schemes to seperately collect food and other biowaste for composting, anaerobic digestion, etc. For UKWIN’s views on incineration and the future of waste management read UKWIN’s written submission to EFRACOM.