A good practice guidance for development of old landfill sites (P3292)

Many old landfill sites in the UK have been recently redeveloped. Twenty years ago, CIRIA published C557 "Remedial Engineering for Closed Landfill Sites". However, the management of waste soil has significantly evolved since then, primarily due to the increasing emphasis on the circular economy in construction projects, the government's brownfield first policy, and changes in the regulatory regime related to waste soil. The Definition of Waste: Development Industry Code of Practice (DoWCoP), which was issued in 2008, is now applied to numerous brownfield projects, including old landfill sites.

Nevertheless, some practitioners encounter significant challenges when developing old landfill sites, such as applying DoWCoP and obtaining specific permits, for example, Deposit for Recovery permits, during the redevelopment process. According to a recent SILC Survey, 17% of projects were abandoned due to these issues. The Environment Agency (EA) and the National House Building Council (NHBC) are in the process of developing guidance, and the forthcoming Version 3 of DoWCoP will address some of these concerns. However, none of these resources have been published yet.

Project objectives
This guide will provide up-to-date good practice on how to redevelop former landfill sites including how to navigate the regulatory regime. 

It will cover:

• major geotechnical and geo environmental issues when redeveloping old  landfill sites
• how these should be addressed when applying for different permits and meeting regulatory requirements
• issues that people have when applying DoWCoP and other permits. How should these be addressed
• how to ensure they apply DoWCoP and obtain the relevant permits efficiently    
• how to plan and implement sustainable redevelopment for different types of old landfill sites

Project status
This project is currently seeking technical and financial support.

Further information
For further information or to get involved with this project please contact Joanne Kwan.