§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what research he has commissioned and proposes to commission on the best practice for management and after-use of large controlled household refuse tips.
§ Mr. Trippier[holding answer 19 January 1990]: Research into landfill practices was initiated in the early 1970s. The first major publication of results of the work was the so-called "Brown Book", the co-operative programme of research into the behaviour of wastes in landfill sites, published in 1978.
Many of the results of the research are embodied in recent waste management papers, specifically No. 26 on "Landfilling Wastes" (1986), No. 4 on "Licensing of Waste Facilities" (1988) and No. 27 on "The Control of Landfill Gas" (1989). These papers provide technical guidance to the waste management industry.
Currently my Department is funding a programme of research, costing over £1 million annually, into landfill practices. Topics covered include microbiology of landfill gas and leachate generation; mechanisms of gas and leachate migration and attenuation; leachate management; modelling, risk assessment and landfill monitoring and landfill reinstatement.
My Department has arranged a conference on 1 March to present recent research results.