Britain is dumping its rubbish on other European countries as councils struggle to deal with the growing waste mountain.
By Louise Gray, Environment Correspondent
Published: 2:44PM BST 28 May 2010
The UK faces massive fines if landfill is not reduced over the next few years but recycling rates remain low.
In their search for new ways to dispose of household rubbish, councils are to export fuel pellets made from the contents of hundreds of thousands of bins to countries like Holland and Germany.
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The first export of 40,000 tonnes has been given the go-ahead by the Environment Agency and it is expected more shipments will follow.
Local authorities claim it is a cost-effective way to get rid of waste rather than paying landfill tax.
But environmentalists pointed out that councils are still paying for the waste to be exported and argued that it was bad for climate change and tax payers.
Officially it is illegal to export waste to other countries for dumping, though products like plastic and paper can be sent to countries like China for recycling.
Waste from industrial processes like wood chips is also sent abroad for burning and hazardous waste has turned up in other countries - although this was exported illegally.
The Waste firm Shanks is exporting 40,000 tonnes initially as part of a 25 year £47 million contract to get rid of waste for the East London Waste Authority(ELWA).
The Environment Agency said the shipment has been given the go-ahead because it is "refuse-derived fuel" or RDF that will go towards generating energy, rather than waste.
The 'RDF' is made up of the rubbish dumped in black bin bags around East London, including paper and plastic that could have been recycled. It will be used to power Amsterdam's district heating network.
Mark Ash, Operations Manager at ELA, insisted that as much waste as possible is collected for recycling and materials are also removed for re-use later on in the process.
While ELWA pay for the waste to be dealt with, he said the councils still have to pay a portion of landfill tax so any reduction in landfill is good for the taxpayer.
Wiltshire Council also have a contract that could see waste exported to Germany for burning.
But Dr Michael Warhurst of Friend of the Earth said sending rubbish to another country for burning in incinerators was a waste of money and fueling climate change.
He said burning plastic produced pollution and transporting the rubbish also increases greenhouse gases.
"It is one thing to export rubbish for recycling, it is another to just dump it in an incinerator in another country," he said.
"It is much better from a climate change or resource efficiency point of view to be taking more recycling. We should be recycling this material rather than just dumping it in an incinerator."
