Landfill Sites

Landfill is currently Britain´s main route for disposal of all types of waste. In 2008/09 re3 sent 60.4% of waste collected for final disposal at a Landfill site.

re3 transport waste by road to the nearest landfill site, in South Oxfordshire.  Like all Local Authorities in the UK, the re3 partnership have targets to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill to 75% of the 1995 levels.  In addition to these targets, the capacity to landfill waste in the UK is declining and the gases produced by rotting waste can be harmful to the environment.  By reducing, reusing and recycling as much as possible you can help us reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfill. 

At landfill sites, waste is tipped into an excavated hole in the ground and buried.  Once the hole is filled the area is capped with a layer of engineered clay and soil.  Biodegradable waste in landfill sites rots down over time.  However, due to the lack of oxygen, waste rots to produce methane - a greenhouse gas 20 times more harmful that carbon dioxide.  At the moment we don't know how long it takes for other wastes, such as plastic, to break down in landfill sites - it's thought that this could take 100 years or more.

Landfill sites are vented to release the methane gas, and where possible, the gas is pumped out and combusted to produce electricity.

Liquid waste (known as leachate) also builds up in landfill.  This is collected to prevent leachate polluting the surrounding environment and is sent for treatment.