§ Sir Charles MorrisonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the research and development projects currently being undertaken into waste disposal by his Department and related agencies, also giving the cost of each project.
§ Mr. TrippierThe research projects currently under-taken by the Department of the Environment into waste management are listed, together with the total cost of each project.
There are three areas of research:
A. Materials Processing. The aim here is to research the provision of safe and effective alternatives to landfilling and also the feasibility of various separation and recovery processes.
Title Total Cost £k Byker reclamation plant; front-end trommel and associated equipment 344.6 Waste analysis research 152.0 Analysis and estimation of municipal waste arisings 61.5 Incineration characteristics from burning WDF pellets in a coal fired boiler 138.6 Waste collection characteristics from selected zones of Nottingham 16.0 Composting of WD fines from Castle Bromwich 118.1 Investigation of incinerator furnace conditions 95.0 Small incinerator investigation 73.5 Improving the effectiveness of civic amenity sites and of complementary waste management services 187.6 Municipal waste composting 185.0 Thermal treatment of waste 89.0 Waste Treatment and recovery 230.0 Environmental impact of municipal solid waste incinerators 68.0 A study of airborne micro-organisms 29.2 B. Problem Waste Management. Research in this area is conducted on the immobilisation of difficult wastes or their chemical, thermal or biological detoxification.
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Title Total Cost (£k) Biotechnical systems for the degradation of heavy metals and persistent organic materials 928.4 Determination of analytical procedures to define dioxins and furans in soils and to assay soil samples 412.0 Stabilisation of organic wastes in clay/cement mixes using quaternary amonium compounds 257.1 Anaerobic degradation of polychlorinated biphenyls 66.0 Toxic and problem waste management 719.6 Polychlorinated biphenyl disposal using cement 98.1 Asbestos site database study 25.5 A review of clinical waste management systems 32.0 Waste management 323.1 C. Landfill Practices. This is by far the largest area of research. The aims here are to develop a thorough understanding of the processes occuring within landfills to ensure safe and effective landfilling of wastes, to allow for the optimisation of landfilling as a waste management technique and to provide reassurance as to the acceptability of landfills as a disposal option.
Landfill research covers five topics:
(i) the microbiology of landfills and studies of landfill gas and leachate composition and generation. Title Total Cost (£k) Mathematical modelling of landfill behaviour 207.7 A review of the technical aspects of co-disposal 27.4 Landfill characterisation relative to methane incidence 429.5 Biotechnical methods of stabilising landfills 282.5 Assessment of landfill gas potential by the interpretation of leachate and gas analysis 75.1 Landfill management 396.9 Methane oxidation in soils 74.1 A study of landfill gas in the Llanharry area 20.0 A review of research into landfill microbiology 19.4 Inhibition of methane production 108.2 Comparison of landfill gas potential tests 55.7
(ii) Studies of the mechanisms of attenuation of leachate and gas Title Total cost (£k) Attenuation of organic leachate in a sand blanket beneath the Washington landfill. 63.2 Instrumentation of a permeable liner in the base of Stangate-East landfill. 279.7 The effectiveness of an impermeable clay liner formed in situ. 49.6 A study of the migration of organic contaminants from Pakefield waste disposal site. 25.0 Control of landfill gas migration by passive venting. 49.0 Automated measurements of aquifer dispersivity. 252.0 Assessment of the problems associated with the landfilling of wastes and the effectiveness of remedial measures. 219.9 Leachate attentuation studies. 23.0 The development of a numerical method for modelling gas flows from landfill sites and experimental studies of gas flow through selected porous materials. 379.5
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(iii) leachate management studies Title Total Cost (£k) Leachate treatment by irrigation to grass and woodland 122.6 Landfill research 1,025.4 Reed-bed treatment of landfill leachate 90.0 Leachate treatment to surface water quality standards using reed bed polishing 98.0 Sulphate based anaerobic digestion of leachate 69.5 Leachate management systems 66.6 Management of the environmental effects of landfill disposal of waste 242.9 A review of leachate composition, attenuation and treatment 84.9 An investigation of the chemical, physical and hydrological properties of refuse 142.2
(iv) the development of monitoring procedures Title Total Cost (£k) The use of carbon/hydrogen isotope ratios to identify methane sources 96.1 Appraisal of hazards related to landfill gas production and the development of a simple procedure to evaluate associated risks 92.0 Long path gas monitor development 45.6 Landfill sampling and monitoring 43.5 Gas migration modelling 34.1
(v) landfill reinstatement studies Title Total Cost (£k) Assessment of the integrity of clay capping to landfills 35.3 The effectiveness of the cap at Milton landfill 143.0 A study of fungal activity in promoting tree growth on landfills 43.2
§ Mr. Gareth WardellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a list of those waste disposal sites in England known to his Department where mass disposal of tyres has taken place.
§ Mr. TrippierRecords of sites used for the disposal of waste tyres are not held centrally. However, HMIP knows of some 400 closed or active sites which have been licensed to take scrap rubber, including tyres.
§ Mr. Gareth WardellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish a list of all former waste disposal sites in England that are known to contain PCBs in drums.
§ Mr. TrippierNo such information is available. However in waste management paper No. 6 (1976) on the reclamation, treatment and disposal of PCBs, the Department recommends that where recovery is not possible, PCBs should generally be disposed of by high temperature incineration.