'Less waste' being sent to landfill in the UK

There is less waste being sent to landfill sites in the UK than there was seven years ago.

This is according to statistics from the British Environment Agency, which were released today and found that in 2001, 84 million tonnes of waste was sent to UK landfill sites compared to 65 million tonnes last year.

Equating to a reduction of 26 per cent, this change has occurred since the introduction of the European Union's landfill directive in 2002, it was highlighted.

Martin Brocklehurst, head of external waste programmes at the Environment Agency, claimed that this shows "we are heading in the right direction to reduce our dependency on landfill in the long-term".

"Last year, nearly 20 million tonnes of waste went to landfill when compared to 2001 - which equates to 500 million wheelie bins," he pointed out.

Meanwhile, the UK's department for environment, food and rural affairs recently claimed that one in three beaches in the country poses a health risk to the public.