What are the problems associated with landfill sites?
Besides taking up space in our countryside and towns with ugly, unsightly, rubbish dumps it they also pose many environmental threats. When biodegradable waste breaks down it releases the gases methane and carbon dioxide. These are both greenhouse gases which are responsible for global warming. Landfill sites produce 25% of total methane emissions in the UK, some of which is burned to produce electricity. As well as the gas it produces, water from rainfall can mix with chemicals and heavy metals in the site to make a liquid substance called leachate. If a landfill is not managed properly the hazardous leachate can find its way into our water supplies and harm plants and animals in our streams and watercourses. Landfills can also cause nuisance from their traffic, noise, dust and odour. On top all this, a high proportion of material we throw away can be re-used or recycled. So what is the government doing to reduce how much we send to landfill? Landfill Tax 2 per tonne for inert wastes,
