What are the risks associated with old landfills in floodplains like those in the UK?

Old landfills in floodplains risk releasing toxic waste, including PFAS and PCBs, into water and ecosystems due to increased flooding.

How is climate change impacting the safety of European landfills?

Climate change is causing more frequent and severe floods, increasing the likelihood of toxic waste washing out from European landfills.

Why is it difficult to assess the exact risk from UK and EU landfills?

Lack of centralized records, fragmented data from member states, and inconsistent categorization make it hard to identify all hazardous landfill sites.

Home / Environment / UK Landfills Flood Risk: Toxic Waste Threat

UK Landfills Flood Risk: Toxic Waste Threat

2 Dec

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Summary

Thousands of old UK landfills are in floodplains, risking toxic waste release.
Climate change increases flood risk, washing pollutants into environment.
EU lacks central landfill data, making risk assessment difficult.

UK Landfills Flood Risk: Toxic Waste Threat

Thousands of landfills in the UK and Europe, many established before modern pollution controls, are located in floodplains. With climate change intensifying floods and erosion, there's an escalating risk of toxic waste, including plastics, metals, and chemicals like PFAS, contaminating water sources and environments. This continent-wide mapping effort highlights fragmented and inaccessible data from member states, making it difficult to pinpoint hazardous sites.

Experts warn that the lack of centralized records and consistent categorization of these sites presents a "worst possible scenario." While most landfills may pose a low risk, a small number containing highly toxic substances could have severe consequences for groundwater, surface water, and the food chain. Over 61,000 landfills have been identified in Europe, with a significant portion in flood-vulnerable areas, and over 4,000 historic landfills in England and Wales are unlikely to have pollution controls.