Government urged to offer incentives for new hazardous waste sites

Introduction of the EU Landfill Directive should be delayed and the government should provide incentives for new hazardous waste sites, according to one demolition contractor.
The directive, due to come into force in July, is expected to reduce the number of landfill sites licensed to handle hazardous waste from the current total of 230 to less than 15 - with none at all in the South East or Wales. This will force costs up and increase the threat of flytipping (CJ 3 March).
David Thursfield, managing director of The Walters Group, told an Institute of Demolition Engineers (IDE) seminar: "The government should offer incentives and planning assistance to secure new hazardous waste sites and should defer the introduction of the Landfill Directive until these are in place."
An Environment Agency representative told the delegates that incidences of flytipping are already on the increase - and are not the preserve of small local contractors. "Some incidents have involved more than 50 tipper loads of waste materials," he said.
IDE president David Keane said: "Our members abide by a strict code of conduct and factor in to every contract the cost of safe disposal of waste materials. But, by flytipping, less scrupulous companies are avoiding disposal costs and landfill tax. We're just not competing on a level playing field."