Landfill Targets Warning

Britain faces fines of up to £180 million a year from the European Commission if it does not reduce the amount of rubbish dumped at landfill sites, a committee of MPs warned.The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee accused ministers of being too slow to react to a 1999 EU directive on waste and warned there was a "significant risk" that new rubbish incinerators and composting plants would not be in action in time to meet its targets.

Under the directive, the UK must cut the amount of biodegradable waste going to landfill from the 18.1 million tonnes dumped in 2003/04 to 13.7 million tonnes in 2010, 9.2 million in 2013 and just 6.3 million in 2020.

Methane from landfill accounts for 3% of the UK's climate change emissions.The committee said that 57% of the public are already "committed recyclers", but need better information on what items can be put in recycling bins, and which large electrical products can be returned to retailers for disposal.

Committee chairman Edward Leigh said Defra had done little more than issue "no fewer than four vaguely worded consultation papers and strategies on waste management...If the UK misses these targets, taxpayers will have to stump up the money to pay a huge fine to the European Commission."

The committee said this meant not only encouraging householders to recycle and compost more of their rubbish, but also there was a need for new energy from waste power plants capable of processing up to 15m tonnes each year.