Reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill is an urgent environmental and financial priority for the United Kingdom. Leeds City Council is committed to reducing the amount waste Leeds has to buy in the ground at landfill sites. At the current rate of use, the UK's landfill sites will be full in only six or seven more years. More importantly, the rotting waste damages the local environmental and releases gases which contribute to climate change. Because of this the UK government and the European Union imposes taxes on waste buried in landfill. Local authorities can also be fined if they send more waste to landfill than their allowance, which reduces year on year.
The council has set itself a target of a minimum of 50% recycling of household waste and intends to achieve this by supporting the community to recycle waste like plastics, cardboard, metals, paper and food.
However, even after all these steps are taken, there will be some waste that isn't recycled. In order to prevent biological (rotting) household waste from being buried in landfill the council will be delivering a waste treatment facility.
This facility will be delivered in partnership with a private waste contractor to treat household waste that cannot be recycled, to get value and energy back in a sustainable way from the material that is currently buried in the ground.
The European Union and our Government are demanding that councils reduce the amount of waste that they bury in landfill sites. If this action is not done, Leeds could face fines of up to £200 million between now and 2020.
This link will provide further information on the Leeds waste private finance initiative (PFI).