Hazardous Waste: Future Consideration
Authors: HURLEY B. S. 
Published: July 2007

In most industries the goods and money move in opposite directions, but in waste management the goods and money travel in the same direction. Consequently to the customer, quality of goods and service might be measured only by price. However, customers are now becoming more sensitive to factors such as environmental quality. They are also becoming aware of the range of disposal options, together with the names of the companies which operate these disposal or treatment sites.

Essentially the options are: recyling and recovery, sea disposal, landfill, physico‐chemical treatment, solidification, biological treatment and thermal destruction.

The Control of Pollution Act 1974 requires that all landfill sites and treatment centres are licensed by the waste disposal authority. These authorities are obliged to act in the public interest, and hence there is a complex interaction of science and politics. This situation often gives rise to localized opposition to facilities which are needed by the community.

The UK disposes of 83 per cent of its potentially difficult wastes to landfill whilst Holland disposes of 52 per cent via this route. The cost of disposal varies throughout Europe but, in general, prices in the UK are lower than in Europe, which has led to the importation of wastes from the continent. Economics applies to the waste‐disposal industry as much as any other industry, therefore facilities are supplied in response to demand. Price alone will not always be adequate in obtaining the ‘best practical environmental option’. disposal the goods and the money go in the same direction, i.e. to the waste management contractor.

This at first sight may not seem important until it is realized that the major control upon the quality of a service is, in fact, the satisfaction with the goods and service which the customer receives. In most cases it is sufficient that the customer disposes of the waste material in a legal manner. However, the judgement of quality of disposal could be of little consequence to him. The factors that concern a customer when he chooses a service include the price, the quality of service, market presentation and reputation. These factors apply in the waste management industry, but the difficulty for the customer is to judge the quality of the service and the market presentation or, more correctly in this case, the quality of operation of the waste contractor. If the latter two factors become difficult to judge, the price becomes a critical factor. This leads to a low standard of operation in the business where price competition becomes more important than the quality of the service.

Companies are looking not just for the cheapest legal option but for the best option and what has been referred to as the ‘best practical environmental option’.

In the UK the vast majority of hazardous waste disposal is carried out by private‐sector companies. Therefore it is essential that the Government sets the correct framework, and that an examination is carried out as to whether the framework is satisfactory and whether it achieves the needs of the Government.