Landfill

The Landfill category groups facilities that permanently dispose of waste onto and into land into three main types inert, non-hazardous (with and without SNRHW cells) and hazardous landfill sites – with the site selection, engineering, operation, restoration and long term aftercare reflecting the nature of the waste being landfilled.

Landfill remains a critical part of the UK waste system, particularly for certain residual and Construction & Demolition waste streams, even as policy, economics and infrastructure development continue to drive diversion towards recycling and recovery options. Each landfill site, however, has a finite capacity (or ‘void’) that, when filled, leads to the ultimate closure of the site.

Types within Landfill

Landfill is divided into three types that reflect the definitions under the legislation and the permitting approach taken by the regulators in the UK [1] which primarily reflects the waste types received and their potential to pollute the environment (the waste must meet the relevant Waste Acceptance Criteria – or WAC - for the type of site and each site has specific selection, engineering, operation, restoration and long term aftercare requirements).These can be viewed individually or as part of an overall Landfill picture.

Hazardous landfill

Landfills permitted to accept hazardous wastes under specific conditions, and not permitted to accept non-hazardous waste.There are relatively few of these sites in the UK and therefore they typically serve wider catchments.

Non-hazardous landfill

Landfills permitted to accept non-hazardous wastes, including municipal and commercial residuals, and meets the relevant WAC. Some of these sites are able to receive with some cells potentially designated for Stabilised Non-reactive Hazardous Waste (SNRHW) in a separate cell if certain criteria are met.

Inert landfill

Landfills permitted to accept inert wastes including example soils, subsoils and certain construction & demolition waste that meet the relevant WAC.

These types of sites presently exclude those sites that are managed as sites exempt from permitting. These might include small engineering projects (such as bunds, engineering-related landscape projects, and engineering platforms) that may use exemptions from permitting or CL:AIRE schemes that have an agreed code of practice. This is different to some inert landfills which are exempt from the payment of Landfill Tax due to planning obligations requiring their restoration.

Cross Section of Modern Landfill

Context

The placement of waste in a landfill will slowly degrade over time, and in the case of the presence of Organic Waste within the Residual Waste going to landfill, it will breakdown to produce Landfill Gas and Leachate which have the potential to cause environmental pollution.

As a result the selection of the site and the engineering and containment design is critical to protect the environment, and specifically underlying groundwater.

The cross section on the left[2] captures the main elements of landfill delivery which are captured in this and associated pages in WikiWsste

Key Stages of Landfill

The key stages are managed through from the:

initial choice of location through to
the engineering and containment systems
the operational management
the restoration and closure of the landfill
and the monitoring of landfills through each of the above stages

The complexity of the engineering approach and management is based upon the nature of the waste received and the sensitivity of the location of the site.

Landfill vs Land-raise

Landfill sites have usually been constructed in disused quarries, or parts of quarries.

However, the phrase is also used to describe sites built where there had previously been no excavation. Such sites are also known as “land-raise” sites, but in the context of WikiWaste, no distinction has been made.

To all practical intents and purposes, there is no significant difference between landfill and land-raise and the term "Sanitary Landfill" can be applied to both.

Bottom of Hierarchy

Whilst Landfill is the ultimate destination for waste, ideally after all forms of Reuse, Recycling, and Recovery have been undertaken, there will always be a small element of waste that will need to be landfilled in a safe and secure way – and in the case of inert soils and construction and demolition waste it provides a sometimes essential reclamation of a quarry after the extraction of minerals.

In developing countries, with limited infrastructure, the delivery of Sanitary Landfill would represent a huge step forward in protecting water resources and human health.

Targets

Under the Landfill Directive targets were set for the reduction of the landfilling of biodegradable waste by 2020 (which was achieved) and a target of no more than 10% of MSW generated by weight to be landfilled by 2035.

Scotland introduced a ban on the landfill of biodegradable waste which was subsequenlty delayed on two occassions and is now set to be enforced from January 2028. Other countries in the UK are considering similar bans.

Capacity of Landfill

The capacity of landfill diminishes over time as the void is filled each year. For each type of landfill the remaning void and fill rates are presented from the most recent data in the relevant WikiWaste page.

Using consented void and looking at historical filling rates to predict remaining landfill life/'void bank' has led to historical concerns that the UK would run out of landfill capacity 'within 10 years'. This has not been the case to date, due to slowing infill rates and new capacity being consented/bought into operation that had been mothballed.

A report from DEFRA in August 2020[3] considered the landfill capacity of Non-Hazardous Landfill, concluding that void was being concentrated in fewer sites and at historical fill rates void would last until only 2024, but at lower fill rates could last to 2028/2030. The Non-Hazardous Landfill page shows a current life of around 6.5 years based on infill rates in 2024 (to 2031).

A paper by the ESA[4] suggests that time-limited planning cosents for landfill need to be changed to allow for fill rates that are progressing slower than what was anticipated when they were consented.

Key Elements of Landfill

The stages of landfill, from site selection, engineering and management through to restoration and aftercare are summaised on the linked pages below

Landfill Engineering

Landfill Groundwater and Hydrogeology

Landfill Management

Landfill Monitoring

Landfill Restoration, Closure and Aftercare

Landfill Settlement and Surcharge

Purpose

Use this page to understand the main landfill types, the capacity, remaining void and regional supply. See how they connect to Local and Waste Types, and navigate to facility level views where more data is available.

Approach

The Landfill category focuses on facilities that accept waste for final disposal, under environmental permits that define which materials are allowed, how they are engineered and how emissions are managed. It covers inert, non-hazardous and hazardous landfill sites, including those with cells for stable non-reactive hazardous waste (SNRHW).

Within WikiWaste, this category aims to:

Group landfill facilities into clear types based on waste type and permit scope.
Link landfill routes to Local Authority and commercial arrangements that still rely on landfill for part of their residual or C&D waste.
Connect landfill back to the Waste Types section, particularly residual, construction & demolition and hazardous waste streams.
Highlight capacity and remaining void where available, noting when figures were last updated and at what spatial resolution.

Facility pages will indicate the scope of data available for each site, including whether inputs, remaining void, closure status and aftercare details are present together with the year when these data were last updated.