Buried Waste Re-Appearing On British Coastlines

28 November 2011

Coastal erosion is causing long since buried waste to re-emerge on the coastline of Britain, according to the construction industry research and information association (CIRIA)

Waste buried decades or even centuries ago are re-appearing on Britain's coastlines, CIRIA has announced, saying the cause of the problem is landfill and other waste disposal sites built on the coast or along estuaries that are being exposed through coastal erosion.　

While the number of sites exhibiting such behaviour is presently limited to a few dozen, the potential scale of the problem is far more serious with over 100 sites identified as being in locations susceptible to coastal erosion.

However, progressive coastal erosion is only one way in which buried waste can be re-mobilised. As the risks to the UK coast from tidal flooding increases, then so does the risk of landfill enbankments and capping layers being eroded by various coastal flooding mechanisms.

Early estimates indicate that by introducing this factor the number of sites as risk to increase to about 2000.

Sponsored by the Environment Agency and with support from Royal Haskoning, CIRIA is looking at ways of addressing, anticipating and planning against the risks of costal erosion and will be conducting a survey to scope out the guidance needed.　

"We are interested in feedback from Local Government, Regulatory, NGO or technical specialists, land owners, financial stakeholders such as insurers and anyone else who is interested or may be affected by such risks," it recently said in a statement.

It's offering the chance to complete a short questionnaire to gain the views of the industry on this,

CLICK HERE to complete the survey

Darrel Moore