Britain 'overly dependent on landfill sites'

The UK is still overly dependent on landfill sites, an expert has claimed.

Speaking to the BBC, Stuart Wardlow, head of the environment and safety team at law firm Dickinson Dees, said that hiding our waste in pits "is no longer an option" in this day and age.

He noted that the UK is running out of space for suitable sites and claimed that the country's consumer culture has led to an increase in people throwing away items at the first sign of wear and tear.

"Many of these products have also been heavily packaged, which is resulting in larger quantities of waste, despite legislation to encourage recycling and recovery of packaging," Mr Wardlow told the news provider.

The UK is known as the "dustbin of Europe" and sends more rubbish to landfill sites than the many of its EU counterparts, he added.

Meanwhile, the Local Government Association earlier this week called on supermarkets to make public the amount of waste they generate through packaging.

Written by Lauren Steadman