Disposal of solid toxic wastes : report.

  • Great Britain. Technical Committee on the Disposal of Toxic Solid Wastes.
Date:
1970
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Disposal of solid toxic wastes : report. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    35/116 (page 29)
    90. Although we have been led to raise the question of illicit tipping during consideration of the role of contracting firms in waste disposal, it must not be supposed that we lay the responsibility for all of it at their door, much less that it alters our view, already expressed, that contractors are rendering a consider- able service to industry. We are only concerned at present with the fact that “fly”? tipping does take place. 91. It goes almost without saying that tipping in an unauthorised spot is likely to be more dangerous than tipping on a site which has been authorised at least for some types of waste. It could well be that sometimes it would be safer in practice to accept a waste although it appeared a bit doubtful for the available tip than to refuse it knowing the probability was that it would only be put sur- reptitiously somewhere which was far less suitable. Whether it would be a right thing to do or not is another matter, but there is no point in ignoring the possi- bility of fly tipping and it becomes more and more likely if more and more difficulties are put in the way of “reasonably safe and proper disposal”. This is not the only situation in life where, if one insists on absolute perfection, one ends up with something less perfect than one would otherwise do. And we are reminded of our terms of reference, which require us to consider not only legisla- tion and control but facilities for disposing of toxic wastes.