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Daventry District Council
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Waste and the Environment

"waste" is "...any substance or object…which the holder discards or intends or is required to discard


Daventry’s recycling rate is one of the highest in the country—in 2005/06 we recycled or composted 45% of the districts household waste, well in excess of the nationally set government targets.

Environmental Impact


We live in a throw away society. We produce over 220 million tonnes of waste per year, nearly 75% of which ends up in landfills (. On average each of us produces around 520kg of household waste each year. Household waste has increased by 16.3% between 1996/97 and 2003/04, and at this rate could easily double by 2020, adding £1.6 billion per year to the national waste disposal bill . And while waste cannot be eliminated, we can reduce its environmental impact by preventing waste wherever possible, and making more sustainable use of the waste that we produce.

In the UK in 2003/04 72% of rubbish ended up in landfill sites with around 9% incinerated and only around 18% being recycled or composted. All of our waste has to go somewhere, so we need to find the least harmful way of disposing of it. The Waste Hierarchy ranks waste disposal options according to their environmental impact:

  • Reduce - Minimising what we throw away is the best solution to waste management
  • Re-use - Needlessly making new products wastes energy and resources
  • Recycle - Recycling old products into new ones saves raw materials
  • Incinerate - Generating electricity through burning rubbish cuts down the fossil fuels we use
  • Landfill - Burying rubbish is the cheapest option, but impacts on the environment the most
Our rubbish will always impact in some way on the environment no matter how we dispose of it. Recycling uses energy. Incinerating produces ash and carbon dioxide. Putting waste in landfill means we lose valuable resources. Landfill also produces methane gas as biodegradable rubbish rots down, which can contribute to air pollution and global warming.

Instead of concentrating on disposal we would be better to look at all the options available for reducing our waste and making the best use of our resources. Disposal should be viewed as a last resort.

If we follow the REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE route then we should find we produce less waste, make the best use of our resources and have a more positive impact on the environment.