Costs for disposing site waste set to soar

The cost of building and demolition site waste disposal is set to soar in the wake of new EU regulations due to come into effect in July.

It is estimated that the regulations will lead to the number of landfill sites currently available for disposal of hazardous, such as asbestos, being reduced from around 190 to as few as 14.

Demolition contractor Howard Button said: "While we, as an industry, fully accept that asbestos waste must be handled correctly, we are very concerned that the reduction of tipping facilities will mean hazardous waste will have to be transported far greater distances for disposal.

"This will inevitably lead to increased cost, increased risk to other road users in the event of an accident, and increased disposal charges as premium rates become limited.

"The changes and increased costs can only escalate the very real threat of fly tipping," he said.

Nick Davies head of the waste management division of the Encia Group has sounded a similar warning to developers and house builders.

"So far, only a handful of commercial operators have signalled an interest in running hazardous waste landfills into the future," he said.

"Costs of brownfield land development could escalate dramatically as a result. In addition, developers will soon find that land viability will be harder to define with uncertain or longer lead-in times for return on capital due to new regulations driving on-site treatment processes."

The new legislation relates to the "co-disposal" of hazardous and non-hazardous waste. It will reclassify asbestos as hazardous waste as opposed to "special waste."

Some 2.3 million tonnes of hazardous waste already goes to landfill every year in this country. About 60% of this is from construction and demolition sites.