Bedfordshire filling up fast as county heads towards landfill crisis

As England hurtles towards a serious landfill crisis, it's been revealed Bedfordshire is one of the most at risk with only 846k m3 of remaining landfill capacity.

A number of household items are escalating the problem, with sofas sitting at the top spot, taking up 15.1million m3 of space in landfill nationally each year, the equivalent of filling Wembley Stadium four times over.

Duvets take second place with more than 22.8million being sold annually, contributing to 7.2million m3 of landfill space, while mattresses are in at third place, making up a significant portion of the problem with more than 7m discarded each year in the UK.

And, if these three recycling offenders continue to be sent to landfill at the current rate, Bedfordshire's landfill sites will be full in less than a year - according to the TFR Group.

The group, which conducted the research, is calling for the UK industry to work together to build a joined up solution to create a circular economy, where products are designed and produced with recycling and the end of its life in mind.

The firm previously found that England’s landfill sites are set to burst by 2022 if nothing is done to stem the flow of waste being sent there, with only enough space for 175.1million tonnes of waste left in total.

Nick Oettinger, managing director and co-founder of mattress and soft furnishings recycling group, TFR Group, said: “Our latest findings highlight the dangers of relying on our bursting landfill and we’re edging closer and closer to a waste disaster. It’s clear that there’s still a lot of groundwork to be done to create our much-needed circular economy, where products are designed with recyclability in mind. This is the only way we can truly solve our recycling and waste crisis.”