With over 20 years of experience, our team of landfill experts at Wiser Environment are ready to provide your business with management and support. From reliable monitoring to maximising restoration potential, we are best placed to help landfill sites with the support they need. To find out more about our tailored services contact us or call on 01480 462 232.
Since 1999, we have been using our practical workplace knowledge to help the waste industry to grow and prosper. At Wiser Environment, we prioritise building a long-term working relationship with our clients and policymakers through understanding their needs.
The landfill sector is one of the key areas we operate in. From obtaining environmental permits for landfill sites to managing them directly as Technically Competent Managers, our team of specialists are experts in the field. Our Director and other senior leaders each hold a Level 4 NVQ qualification in landfill management. This includes highly technical roles such as managing operational hazardous and non-hazardous landfills.
We also help prepare the industry’s operators for success through our approved WAMITAB assessment centre. Our centre trains and assesses operators from a variety of backgrounds. We then certify them as Technically Competent Managers and they go on to operate some of the UK’s best-performing landfills.
Our landfilling knowledge and skills go even further. Wiser Environment’s team of specialist environmental consultants provide bespoke support for landfills across the UK. These clients benefit from our ability to:
- Reliably monitor, sample and assess in situ emissions
- Establish approved and secure capping options for closed landfills
- Commercially maximise economic returns through innovative restoration
Reliably monitor, sample and assess in situ emissions
As an example of our reliable and accurate monitoring service, we manage the long-term monitoring requirements for multiple landfill facility’s across the UK. One of those landfills resides within the catchment of a Groundwater Source Protection Zone, sits on top of a permeable principal chalk aquifer and is covered by soils with intermediate leaching potential.
To help ensure this landfill maintained its environmental compliance, Wiser helped monitor the site’s groundwater. Initially, Wiser installed several 55-metre-deep boreholes. Then, Wiser used a consistent and reliable sampling methodology to comprehensively sample the groundwater from these boreholes every quarter. Also, our team maintains accurate records and reports on behalf of the operator to the Environment Agency.
Alongside our monitoring support for this client, we also helped them with securing an extension to their planning permission. The landfill in question required a twelve-year extension to the end date of their planning consent. As leaders on this project, we drafted the planning application and supporting statements. Our efforts determined that the site’s projected waste inputs justified the length of the twelve-year extension. Backing our stance, we also undertook a thorough review of the planning policy. Here, we took into account the local County Council’s waste plan and the emerging development framework. Our detailed application was successful and the operator was able to continue to run their landfill.
Establish approved and stable capping options for closed landfills
Fitting within our core services at Wiser, we can liaise with regulatory bodies and find the best capping scheme for all parties. For example, a local Borough Council were in the process of closing their landfill. As a part of the closure process and to achieve the required permeability level, the Environment Agency requested that the operator should use a plastic cap for their site. This option was costly and would have limited the client’s ability to prosper. So, they came to us for an alternative option.
Through the use of our engineering expertise and deep knowledge of the site, we were able to develop a different capping scheme for the Borough Council. Our capping involved the use of readily available and locally sourced soils. With thorough testing, we were able to prove that the local option also met the regulator’s required permeability level. As a result, our capping scheme was approved by the regulator and our client was able to generate greater profits by eliminating the need for expensive plastic capping.
As another example, we also helped an operator in the East of England to manage their closed site and restore it. This work has included gaining planning permission for the restoration, liaising with the Environment Agency and reviewing the monitoring data to ensure the site is not having an impact on the environment. Our team found that leachate levels across the site were higher than expected. So, we advised the operator to construct a leachate plant to process the liquid on site.
We defined the specification for the plant, drafted the tender documentation and reviewed the subsequent tender submissions. Our team also obtained planning permission and an environmental permit for the plant. The plant became fully operational and the wider site is currently in the process of preparing for the final restoration.
At Wiser Environment, we believe that reusing waste soils and other inert materials is key to a sustainable restoration. We use our detailed Waste Recovery Plans to consistently meet the Environment Agency’s high standards. In turn, our work helps our clients in navigating the restoration process and create diverse habitats.
Commercially maximise economic returns through innovative restoration
As a part of our culture, we always go above and beyond for our clients. After successfully navigating regulation on behalf of the Borough Council, we were keen to ambitiously restore their closed landfill. Our ambition was to overhaul their landfill into a clean carbon-neutral energy plant and create a platform for local economic growth.
In short, we were able to use our planning and project management expertise to bring together a diverse range of carbon-neutral energy solutions. These include the installation of solar panels paired with long-lasting battery storage units that span 4 hectares, an anaerobic digestion plant that will convert the community’s household food waste into compressed natural gas and a leachate plant powered by ground source heat pumps. Plus, any carbon generated by these facilities would be caught by carbon capture and storage technology. Capturing the CO2 at the source in this way will reduce the chances of them polluting the local atmosphere.
Our forwarding-thinking project will help the Borough Council to significantly reduce their carbon emissions, improve the availability of local energy generation for the community and – most importantly – take a big step towards their goal of carbon neutrality.