Across the UK and Europe, thousands of communities are living alongside, or on top of, historic landfill sites without fully understanding what may lie beneath the ground around them. Some exist beneath public parks and farmland, others sit beneath roads, housing estates, schools, caravan parks and industrial land. Many are located within areas now increasingly vulnerable to coastal erosion, groundwater movement and flooding, despite having been closed decades before modern e

Our founder and director, Luke Douglas-Home, and A Future Without Rubbish (AFWR) featured in Field Notes magazine, highlighting the growing recognition of one of the UK’s most overlooked environmental challenges: legacy landfill pollution. The mention by the powerful Institute of Environmental Science s reflects something imperative- historic landfill sites are not just relics of the past; they are active, evolving risks. Across the UK, there are over 20,000 closed or unre

Throughout the UK, thousands of historic landfill sites lie beneath housing estates, farmland, public open spaces, caravan parks, and stretches of coast that are increasingly vulnerable to flooding and erosion. It is rarely documented, obscured by others, and often missing from everyday public discussion. They are nevertheless part of the physical substrate on which modern-day communities live, build and farm. For councils, planners and environmental regulators, these sites r

A Future Without Rubbish recently launched its newest initiative - 'Setting the Standard: The Suffolk Chapter' in Lowestoft on 4 July! To...