For information about obtaining this factsheet in other formats, click here . The inspiring and innovative initiatives in this programme are creating local jobs, training and viable businesses as well as dealing with one of the most difficult environmental problems facing us in the UK today. Most of it goes to landfill - holes in the ground which, when full, are covered over and left to rot.
Dangerous chemicals can leach out of the rubbish as it rots, and can pollute watercourses.
Methane is not only a potential fire and explosion risk, it is also a greenhouse gas which contributes to global warming. Alternatives to burying waste in the ground need to be found. In the long term, we will have to find ways of reducing waste. In the UK, just 8 per cent of waste was being recycled by 1999, and the target for 2005 is only 25 per cent. This analyses the problem and proposes solutions which can also create local jobs and viable businesses.