International Review of Waste Management Policy - Department of ...

Landfills also emit other gases. Those which are generated in the early stages after
materials are deposited in the landfill are not so well characterised as those collected
from the landfill gas collection systems. Yet it seems reasonable to assume that in
the period during which degradation is aerobic, that emissions of various pollutants
will be significant. Most notable here may be ammonia emissions, which tend to
occur early in degradation processes, and which appear to be associated with
considerable damages. It might be added that in the UK, studies have hinted at a link
between landfills and the incidence of birth defects in their vicinity. However, the
strength of this association is not considered by government to be sufficiently strong
to support any causal link, though the evidence is at least suggestive. 1149
Landfills also lead to disamenity associated with dust, noise, odour, litter, etc. There
have been a number of studies addressing the issue and one which sought to
establish a meta-analysis of existing studies. The transferability of these results is not
clear.
As discussed above, the issue of discounting should be important in the context of
emissions from landfills. However, this issue has not been given the attention it
deserves from an economic perspective. Indeed, an Austrian study appears to have
assumed a zero discount rate in the analysis even though different time horizons for
the analysis were considered. 1150 Indeed, to our knowledge, all studies which have
assessed the external costs of landfill have applied a zero discount rate. This is true
of a recent UK study, even though the agreed approach of UK Government is to use a
discount rate which declines, over time, from its early rate of 3.5% per annum (but
not falling to zero). 1151 Where life-cycle studies are used to provide the emissions
inventory, the use of a zero discount rate assumption requires a decision to be made
about what the time horizon should be for time-dependent processes. In the absence
of a discount rate, this decision becomes arbitrary, and it usually made on an
arbitrary basis.
As discussed previously, to the extent that landfills generate energy, the issue of
‘which source is being displaced’ assumes considerable relevance.
61.2.3 Incineration
As with other treatments, the focus of external costs of incineration has been on air
emissions. Different studies seek to capture differing ranges of pollutants. Evidently,
the coverage of pollutants will affect the analysis.
1149 See Paul Elliott et al (2001) Risk of Adverse Birth Outcomes in Populations Living Near Landfill
Sites, British Medical Journal, 2001, Vol 323, pp.363-68. P. Elliott, S Richardson, J J Abellan, A
Thomson, C de Hoogh, L Jarup, and D J Briggs (2009) Geographic density of landfill sites and risk of
congenital anomalies in England, Occup. Environ. Med. 2009, Vol. 66, pp.81-89.
1150 G. Döberl, R. Huber, P.H. Brunner, M. Eder, R. Pierrard, W. Schönbäck, W. Frühwirth and H.
Hutterer (2002) Long-term assessment of waste management options - a new, integrated and goaloriented
approach, Waste Management & Research, 20 (4), pp. 311-327.
1151 HM Customs & Excise (2004) Combining the Government’s two heath and environment studies to
calculate estimates for the external costs of landfill and incineration, December 2004.
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