§ Mr. PawseyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he intends to produce guidance on the design, construction and operation of landfills.
§ Mr. AtkinsLandfill is the predominant method of waste disposal in this country, and will remain of major importance as far into the future as we can see. Landfills, unless they are properly designed, built and operated, can have a major impact on the atmosphere, the soil and the water supply. Unless we ensure that landfill uses the best possible techniques, we shall have failed the test of sustainability.
We are therefore publishing today a consultation draft of waste management paper 26B, "Landfill design, construction and operational practice". The draft paper has been prepared by consultants. They have drawn extensively on the waste management industry's experience of landfill techniques, on the waste regulators' particular skills, and on their own specialised knowledge of landfill engineering as a technical discipline.
The consultation period will be until 10 May 1995. Subject to the results of the consultation, waste management paper 26B should be published in late summer 1995.