Vol. 475 No. 4
186 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for the Environment his views on the plans of Berkshire County Council to dig up and recycle waste which has been buried in landfill sites, and bringing back into use reusable glass, metals and plastic thereby creating local employment; and if he will encourage local authorities to incorporate this innovative idea into their waste management strategies. [5232/97]
The excavation of old landfills, sometimes referred to as landfill mining, is a relatively new practice which has been explored in some countries. Excavation has been carried out both for the purposes of winning new space for landfilling and dealing with problem landfill sites. The excavated materials have been put to various uses, including incineration, landfill cover and recovery of certain materials.
The feasibility of landfill excavation has to be established on a case by case basis by reference to a range of economic, technical and environmental considerations. Information on this new process is kept under review by my Department and the Environmental Protection Agency.
