12/09/2005 - A Sunderland
landfill site has been granted a licence to
recycle non-hazardous soil and building material.
The Environment Agency today (Monday 12 September
2005) gave permission for Biffa to operate
the recycling facility at its Houghton Quarry
landfill site in Houghton-le-Spring.
This type of activity is normally exempt
from waste licensing laws, but the recycled
materials produced at Houghton will be reused
offsite, so rules meant the company had to
apply for an additional licence to carry out
this process.
The licence contains strict conditions to
ensure that the recycling process does not
cause harm to the environment.
Environment Manager Julian Carrington said:
“The recycling of waste is obviously something
that we encourage, whether it’s small scale
in the home or on a much larger scale like
this. Recycling means that less waste has
to be buried in landfill sites, whatever form
it takes.
“The Houghton site is not licensed to take
hazardous waste, so no soil or building material
will be allowed at the recycling point if
it is found to contain any hazardous materials.
“The Environment Agency’s role is to protect
the environment and we will continue to visit
the landfill to check that conditions for
all licenses at the site are not being broken.”
