The problem with waste  The household waste that Devon's
Councils have to deal with every year can fill up a football
pitch 1000 metres high. Much of what we purchase ends up as
waste and it's increasing - a growth of around 1.25% every year.
Each person would probably produce 25 tonnes of waste in their
lifetime, left for the next generation to deal with.
Traditionally, most of our household waste has been collected by
District Councils and disposed of by the County Council in holes
in the ground (called landfill sites). Most bulky household
waste has also ended up in landfill sites. This has generally
been the cheapest option. However, the capacity of landfill
sites is diminishing and European legislation, in particular the
Landfill Directive, means that other options need to be
considered to manage the volume of waste we generate. The cost
of disposing of waste will escalate and, if nothing is done now
and no new facilities are provided for the future, this cost
will be even greater as it would need to be