End the toxic landfill crisis in Europe
To the European Commission, European Parliament, European Environment Agency
Petition
We call on you to:
- Establish an EU-wide, publicly accessible database of all the landfill sites, with risk assessments
- Require systematic testing at all identified landfills and enforce actions to prevent contamination of groundwater and surface water
- Amend the Landfill Directive and Drinking Water Directive to close regulatory gaps
- Establish dedicated EU funding to support member states and local authorities in safely remediating high-risk landfills
Why is this important?
Thousands of forgotten landfill sites lie beneath our fields, forests and playgrounds across Europe. Now, many of them are leaking toxic waste into our rivers and the water we drink.
A shocking new investigation revealed the location of 60,000 old landfills in the UK, France, Italy, Spain and other countries in Europe. [1] Some of them are already releasing heavy metals, arsenic and “forever chemicals”.
These landfills poison us. Communities unknowingly drink contaminated water. Farmers grow food on polluted land. Wildlife is exposed to chemicals that never break down.
There is no complete EU map of where these sites are and no systematic monitoring. Worst of all - there's no coordinated plan to clean them up.
We have an opportunity right now to change this. The EU’s Landfill Directive is scheduled for review this year - a rare moment when rules can be strengthened.
Together we can tell EU leaders we know the damage these landfills are doing. We can force them to ensure toxic landfills are finally monitored, and prevent decades-old waste from poisoning our communities.
References:
- https://www.investigate-europe.eu/posts/europes-toxic-landfill-crisis-exposed-in-groundbreaking-mapping-project