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Landfill is no longer an option for Hertfordshire waste
Hertfordshire Council has been forced to take a decision on how to deal with county household waste that cannot be recycled or composted.
Landfill contracts run out by the end of 2010 and there is a lack of suitable space to create further sites in the county, and so the council has proposed to put in place a facility that utilises Energy from Waste (EfW) with Combined Heat and Power (CHP).
The county council is currently seeking to secure funding support from the government for this proposed new waste treatment facility. As part of this it is necessary to identify a ‘reference’ site, which the county has proposed as being a former secondary school site at New Barnfield in Hatfield.
Councillor Derrick Ashley, executive member for planning, external relations and waste, said: "Landfill is the least environmentally friendly option for disposing of waste.
"The government and the European Union have introduced new laws that mean county councils, as Waste Disposal Authorities, will face stiff financial penalties if they do not find alternatives to landfill. The bottom line is that we cannot continue to bury our rubbish in holes in the ground," added Cllr Ashley.
When drawing up their waste strategy last year, the Hertfordshire Waste Partnership (which consists of the county and ten district councils) consulted the public for their views on how waste should be dealt with.
Cllr Ashley continued: “The partnership aims to increase recycling and composting levels of household waste to at least 50 per cent by 2012. People in Hertfordshire are clearly committed to recycling schemes as our recycling rates are above the national average.
“However, even once this target is hit, there will still be a large amount of other waste that needs to be disposed of. We have to develop alternative plans now for dealing with this,” the councilor went on to say.
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