Greenhouse gas emissions from waste management plummeted 73 per cent between 1990 and 2020, according to the UK government’s latest data. The waste management sector is now responsible for around 4 per cent of the country’s emissions (17.6MtCO2e of 404.5MtCO2e) compared to 8.5 per cent in 2000.
The progress is impressive, with landfill tax driving waste out of holes in the ground – a treatment that sits at the bottom of the ‘waste hierarchy’ and produces the potent global warming gas methane. But where has all this waste gone, with its accompanying emissions?
There have been improvements in the standards of landfilling, changes to the types of waste going to landfill (such as reducing the amount of biodegradable waste), and an increase in the amount of landfill gas being used for energy. More rubbish is now recycled, and food waste has been reduced, with more of what is left ending up at anaerobic digestion plants to create energy.
Yet a lot of residual...