27 May 2026
Webinar: Europe’s toxic legacy - how historic landfills are harming communities today
Webinar: Europe’s toxic legacy - how historic landfills are harming communities today
27 May 2026Watch the discussion exploring the hidden impacts of Europe’s historic landfill sites – a decades-old problem that continues to threaten waterways, ecosystems, and nearby communities today. Reporters, scientists, and activists shared insights into how buried waste is resurfacing across the continent, while governments lag behind in addressing the risks.
Across Europe, historic landfill sites are being exposed by flooding, coastal erosion and rising groundwater, revealing a problem long considered buried and forgotten.
This was the focus of Investigate Europe’s latest webinar on Toxic Ground, our cross-border investigation into Europe’s historic landfill sites and the risks they pose to water, coastlines and public health. Together with Watershed Investigations, we mapped more than 60,000 landfill locations across Europe and the UK, many created before modern environmental regulations existed, when waste was simply dumped into the ground with little oversight of what was disposed of.
The webinar brought together journalists, campaigners and environmental experts working on landfill pollution across Europe, from Greece and France to the UK.
Moderated by Juliet Ferguson, lead reporter of the project, the discussion explored how climate change is increasingly exposing landfill sites once considered safely buried. Speakers described leaking chemicals, contaminated rivers and coastal dumpsites slowly collapsing into the sea, while warning that authorities still do not know the full scale of the problem.
“There is no central place where this data is collected,” said Leana Hosea, explaining the importance of the first cross-border mapping exercise of its kind.
The panel examined how extreme weather events are making old landfill sites more unstable and increasing the risk of pollution spreading into waterways and surrounding ecosystems.
For Luke Douglas-Home, who has worked with communities affected by coastal landfill erosion in the UK, the issue is becoming impossible to ignore.
“Historic landfill sites are more vulnerable than they have ever been before,” he said, pointing to the impact of flooding, coastal erosion and rising sea levels.
The conversation also focused on Europe’s wider relationship with waste and the long-term consequences of treating landfill as a permanent solution.
“We collectively think that after throwing an object away, it just disappears. But it does not work like this,” said Théo Tostivint.
Speakers also discussed the political and financial challenges of remediation. Cleaning up old landfill sites is expensive, responsibility is often unclear, and many governments continue to delay action despite growing evidence of environmental and public health risks.
“You cannot restore a catchment if you ignore what has been buried in it,” said Kriton Arsenis.
Despite the scale of the problem, the discussion highlighted growing local mobilisation, citizen monitoring and investigative reporting as key drivers of change, especially in places where pollution has long remained hidden.
Audience members also contributed questions and suggestions for future reporting, highlighting landfill sites in other parts of Europe that deserve further investigation. If you know of historic landfill sites in your area or would like to share your experience, you can contact us at ferguson@investigate-europe.eu.
Watch the full recording of the webinar above.
You can read the Toxic Ground investigation and explore the landfill map here.
Toxic Ground was supported by Journalism Fund Europe.
This was the focus of Investigate Europe’s latest webinar on Toxic Ground, our cross-border investigation into Europe’s historic landfill sites and the risks they pose to water, coastlines and public health. Together with Watershed Investigations, we mapped more than 60,000 landfill locations across Europe and the UK, many created before modern environmental regulations existed, when waste was simply dumped into the ground with little oversight of what was disposed of.
The webinar brought together journalists, campaigners and environmental experts working on landfill pollution across Europe, from Greece and France to the UK.
Speakers
- Hosted by Juliet Ferguson - Investigate Europe
- Leana Hosea – journalist, Watershed Investigations
- Kriton Arsenis – former MEP and founder of reLife Earth
- Luke Douglas-Home – environmental campaigner and founder of A Future Without Rubbish CIC
- Théo Tostivint – mobilisation officer at Surfrider Foundation Europe
Moderated by Juliet Ferguson, lead reporter of the project, the discussion explored how climate change is increasingly exposing landfill sites once considered safely buried. Speakers described leaking chemicals, contaminated rivers and coastal dumpsites slowly collapsing into the sea, while warning that authorities still do not know the full scale of the problem.
“There is no central place where this data is collected,” said Leana Hosea, explaining the importance of the first cross-border mapping exercise of its kind.
The panel examined how extreme weather events are making old landfill sites more unstable and increasing the risk of pollution spreading into waterways and surrounding ecosystems.
For Luke Douglas-Home, who has worked with communities affected by coastal landfill erosion in the UK, the issue is becoming impossible to ignore.
“Historic landfill sites are more vulnerable than they have ever been before,” he said, pointing to the impact of flooding, coastal erosion and rising sea levels.
The conversation also focused on Europe’s wider relationship with waste and the long-term consequences of treating landfill as a permanent solution.
“We collectively think that after throwing an object away, it just disappears. But it does not work like this,” said Théo Tostivint.
Speakers also discussed the political and financial challenges of remediation. Cleaning up old landfill sites is expensive, responsibility is often unclear, and many governments continue to delay action despite growing evidence of environmental and public health risks.
“You cannot restore a catchment if you ignore what has been buried in it,” said Kriton Arsenis.
Despite the scale of the problem, the discussion highlighted growing local mobilisation, citizen monitoring and investigative reporting as key drivers of change, especially in places where pollution has long remained hidden.
Audience members also contributed questions and suggestions for future reporting, highlighting landfill sites in other parts of Europe that deserve further investigation. If you know of historic landfill sites in your area or would like to share your experience, you can contact us at ferguson@investigate-europe.eu.
Watch the full recording of the webinar above.
You can read the Toxic Ground investigation and explore the landfill map here.
Toxic Ground was supported by Journalism Fund Europe.