No room for new landfill sites in Merseyside, experts claim

There is no space to develop new landfill sites in the Merseyside area, according to local experts.

A report in the Liverpool Daily Post stated that, once current landfill sites are full, rubbish will need to be exported or burnt as there are no suitable locations for new waste disposal facilities of this kind in the city region.

Councillor Tony Robertson told the publication that it was "no surprise" that officials are facing problems in finding new landfill sites.

"The problem is that Merseyside is a very tight geographical area that's built up and what isn't built up is protected green belt and if it isn't green belt it's Grade A agricultural land," he explained.

A document produced by the Merseyside Environmental Advisory Service (MEAS) described the landfill situation in the area as extremely constrained.

Local councils are currently discussing proposals put forward by the MEAS' waste development plan document, with a final version due to be published on February 18th.

In November last year, figures published by the Local Government Authority revealed that, in 2007, the UK sent more waste to landfill than any other European country.

Posted by Joseph Hutton