In his latest spending review, the Chancellor announced that an additional £300m would be allocated to the budget of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. In recognition of the environmental targets local authorities have to achieve, an additional £155m in PFI credits for waste disposal facilities was also announced.
In the UK, the traditional approach to waste management has been through landfill sites. Approximately 400 million tonnes of waste is produced per year in England alone. In 1995, over 80% of this was disposed of in landfills. One of the focal points of recent European Union legislation regarding landfills and their use has been to encourage a reduction in waste production through greater emphasis on recycling and composting.
