London Wider Waste Strategy - London - Greater London Authority

construct new facilities in providing hazardous waste treatment facilities
should be taken note of.
6.69. Assuming a perhaps rather optimistic lag time of three years and a London capacity
shortfall of around 330,000 tonnes per annum, this would indicate a total shortfall in
treatment capacity for hazardous wastes arising in London of some 1.0 million tonnes,
whilst with a lag time of five and seven years it could be some 1.6 and 2.3 million
tonnes respectively. However, taking account of the possible quantities of ‘new’
hazardous wastes likely to require treatment from mid-2005, London’s capacity shortfall
may actually be much higher, at 1.3m tonnes (3 years), 2.2 m tonnes (5 years) and 3.0
m tonnes (7 years).
6.70. An additional concern raised by the stakeholders of the Hazardous Waste Forum is the
actions of some landfill operators, who are reducing the cost of landfill in order to take
as much waste as possible before the 16 th July 2004 cut-off point. Waste managers are
concerned that an increased influx of hazardous waste to landfill in the next couple of
months could result in market distortions and a reduction in available future capacity.
This may also give a disincentive to early action by operators who are thinking of
investing in the hazardous waste treatment industry in the long term.
6.71. Plans for the development of new hazardous waste treatment facilities are unlikely to be
initiated until the new Hazardous Waste Regulations guidelines are available, in mid-
2004. It is clear that future treatment must change the characteristics of the waste to
decrease its hazardousness. It is not sufficient only to reduce volume.
6.72. Part of the scope of the Hazardous Waste Forum Capacity Sub-Group was to identify
and assess the most likely alternative treatment routes for hazardous waste which is
currently landfilled. The Environment Agency has also produced a report titled
‘Hazardous Waste Management – Market Pressures and Opportunities’ outlining some
of the treatment options. These are summarised briefly below:
• Stabilisation/solidification. Stabilisation is potentially an effective treatment for
contaminated soils and process-derived hazardous wastes. Under controlled
conditions waste can be processed from hazardous to non-hazardous waste prior to
landfill. The processes must meet the WAC and leaching limits.
• Physico-chemical treatment (reduction/oxidation, neutralisation, precipitation, air
stripping).
• Solvent recovery; this is generally applicable to organic wastes and is used to
separate hazardous substances from equipment, soil or sediment. The process
makes use of organic chemicals as solvents to dissolve and remove the contaminants
of concern from the soil, sediment or other solid matrix.
• Bioremediation. Biological processes change the characteristics of the waste, and
can reduce its mass, facilitate its handling, and may reduce its hazardousness. Often
used in waste water treatment and also in contaminated soil treatment (albeit
infrequently in the UK).
• Waste water treatment works. The waste water treatment industry holds the
potential to handle a wide range of liquid hazardous waste, either at a sole
treatment facility, or following some other pre-treatment. The Environment Agency
suggests in the document ‘Hazardous Waste Market Pressures and Opportunities’
that industrial companies could pre-treat their wastes on-site to make them suitable
for discharge to the trade effluent sewer. Water treatment companies are looking at
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