Europe’s toxic landfill crisis exposed in groundbreaking mapping project
Credit: Georgina Choleva/Spoovio
Locations of more than 60,000 landfills pinpointed across Europe in first-of-its-kind analysis, uncovering a multitude of potential threats to ecosystems and communities.
Thousands of landfills across Europe lie in flood-risk zones, areas which could endanger drinking water or sensitive conservation sites, Investigate Europe and Watershed Investigations can reveal. The largest landfill mapping exercise ever undertaken across the continent has found that many of these sites risk leaching toxic chemicals into waterways, bringing a potential cocktail of harms to humans and surrounding ecosystems.
There are estimated to be up to 500,000 landfills scattered across the EU and UK, with roughly 90 per cent established before pollution control regulations. Their exact locations, however, remain broadly unknown, largely due to a lack of consistent data and the fact that many sites have been covered over.
Analysis of data obtained from Freedom of Information requests, government agencies and public sources pinpointed the locations of more than 60,000 sites. Many are likely to be historic, pre-dating the European Union’s 1999 Landfills Directive, meaning that they could lack modern-day containment measures, such as the use of protective lining to prevent leakages of harmful waste.
“Europe is obviously ignoring its landfill crisis,” Jutta Paulus, a German MEP with the Green grouping, said in response to the findings. “The hundreds of thousands of legacy sites, many in flood- or erosion-prone zones, remain a dangerous blind spot.”
From the ‘forever chemicals’ seeping out of a former landfill in Greece’s tourist-friendly Taygetos Mountains to the landfill debris crumbling from parts of Britain’s coastlines, the investigation represents a first-of-its-kind study into the state of Europe’s waste sites.
There are estimated to be up to 500,000 landfills scattered across the EU and UK, with roughly 90 per cent established before pollution control regulations. Their exact locations, however, remain broadly unknown, largely due to a lack of consistent data and the fact that many sites have been covered over.
Analysis of data obtained from Freedom of Information requests, government agencies and public sources pinpointed the locations of more than 60,000 sites. Many are likely to be historic, pre-dating the European Union’s 1999 Landfills Directive, meaning that they could lack modern-day containment measures, such as the use of protective lining to prevent leakages of harmful waste.
“Europe is obviously ignoring its landfill crisis,” Jutta Paulus, a German MEP with the Green grouping, said in response to the findings. “The hundreds of thousands of legacy sites, many in flood- or erosion-prone zones, remain a dangerous blind spot.”
From the ‘forever chemicals’ seeping out of a former landfill in Greece’s tourist-friendly Taygetos Mountains to the landfill debris crumbling from parts of Britain’s coastlines, the investigation represents a first-of-its-kind study into the state of Europe’s waste sites.
Reporter Eurydice Bersi walks among the piles of waste that remain around the now closed Maratholaka landfill in Greece's southern Peloponnese.Credit: Nick Paleologos
Among those mapped, almost 30 per cent were found to be in areas with a significant risk of flooding, raising the possibility of toxic waste entering water systems and surrounding land. More than 3000 sites exist in protected conservation areas, leaving ecosystems and natural habitats at risk of pollution. Thousands more were found where groundwater has poor chemical status, something that landfills have possibly exacerbated. In addition, almost 10,000 were identified in drinking water zones across France, the UK, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy.
Those most visibly at risk are situated along the coast. The analysis found 346 landfills in coastal erosion zones in England, Wales and France, while more than 250 sites elsewhere across Europe are within 200 metres of the coast, potentially at risk of erosion or exposure from storm surges.
“With increasing frequency and magnitudes of floods and erosion from climate change, there’s a greater risk of these wastes washing into our environment,” said Patrick Byrne of Liverpool John Moores University, adding that harmful materials disseminating from the landfills bring other threats. “We know plastics are accumulating in wildlife, humans and environments and there’s emerging evidence of negative health impacts.” In the UK, it is estimated that 80 per cent of the population live within two kilometres of known landfill sites.
Those most visibly at risk are situated along the coast. The analysis found 346 landfills in coastal erosion zones in England, Wales and France, while more than 250 sites elsewhere across Europe are within 200 metres of the coast, potentially at risk of erosion or exposure from storm surges.
“With increasing frequency and magnitudes of floods and erosion from climate change, there’s a greater risk of these wastes washing into our environment,” said Patrick Byrne of Liverpool John Moores University, adding that harmful materials disseminating from the landfills bring other threats. “We know plastics are accumulating in wildlife, humans and environments and there’s emerging evidence of negative health impacts.” In the UK, it is estimated that 80 per cent of the population live within two kilometres of known landfill sites.
Investigate Europe and Watershed Investigations pinpointed the locations of more than 60,000 sites around Europe.Credit: Georgina Choleva/Spoovio
The European Environment Agency lists a cocktail of chemicals and harmful substances that could be escaping through the leachate – liquid that drains or 'leaches' from these sites: “heavy metals and ammonia nitrogen compounds, as well as emerging pollutants such as pharmaceuticals, plasticisers” and PFAs or so-called ‘forever chemicals’.
In Greece, reporters commissioned laboratory tests of run-off coming from a former landfill in the southern Peloponnese. The Maratholaka landfill, which closed in 2022 after years of campaigning by local activists, is situated in the picturesque Taygetos Mountains, which are visited by thousands of hikers every year. Yet tonnes of waste remains visible around the site and test results found levels of PFAs 76 times higher than the drinking water standard, as well as mercury and cadmium leaching from the site.
When asked to respond to the investigation’s findings, the mayor of Kalamata, Athanasios Vassilopoulos, told Investigate Europe: “There is currently no evidence or data to substantiate any environmental impact from the operation of the site."
After mapping the sites, Investigate Europe and Watershed Investigations conducted modelling to show the likely extent of environmental risks. When scaling up the analysis to cater for the estimated half a million landfills across Europe, the dangers appear even more acute, with 140,000 sites at risk of flooding, 30,000 located in protected conservation sites and nearly 300,000 where groundwater is polluted. Modern landfills which are well managed will likely be low risk.
In Greece, reporters commissioned laboratory tests of run-off coming from a former landfill in the southern Peloponnese. The Maratholaka landfill, which closed in 2022 after years of campaigning by local activists, is situated in the picturesque Taygetos Mountains, which are visited by thousands of hikers every year. Yet tonnes of waste remains visible around the site and test results found levels of PFAs 76 times higher than the drinking water standard, as well as mercury and cadmium leaching from the site.
When asked to respond to the investigation’s findings, the mayor of Kalamata, Athanasios Vassilopoulos, told Investigate Europe: “There is currently no evidence or data to substantiate any environmental impact from the operation of the site."
After mapping the sites, Investigate Europe and Watershed Investigations conducted modelling to show the likely extent of environmental risks. When scaling up the analysis to cater for the estimated half a million landfills across Europe, the dangers appear even more acute, with 140,000 sites at risk of flooding, 30,000 located in protected conservation sites and nearly 300,000 where groundwater is polluted. Modern landfills which are well managed will likely be low risk.
“With increasing frequency and magnitudes of floods and erosion from climate change, there’s a greater risk of these wastes washing into our environment.”
— Patrick Byrne, Liverpool John Moores University
Illegal waste dumping is also a significant problem: Europol has identified it as one of the fastest-growing areas of organised crime in Europe. While data is scant, analysis managed to identify over 2000 illegal dumps across Europe, though there are likely many more.
Despite mounting risks exacerbated by climate change, landfill clean-up falls squarely on the landowner or national authorities – in most cases the municipality or local authority. Cash-strapped public bodies are usually the ones that test for contamination which, if found, would oblige the owners, or in some cases the local authorities, to pay for remediation.
A High Court ruling in the UK in October found Havering Council in London responsible for cleaning up an illegal landfill located on private land, overturning the council’s refusal to designate the land as contaminated. Known notoriously as the ‘Rainham Volcano’ due to outbreaks of fire every summer for nearly a decade, the ruling now means the council has a legal obligation to ensure its clean-up, with an estimated cost of up to £10m.
An EU-wide clean-up would be substantial. Research from private company Waste to Energy International put the estimated cost, including the UK but not Norway, at between €100 billion and €1 trillion.
Despite mounting risks exacerbated by climate change, landfill clean-up falls squarely on the landowner or national authorities – in most cases the municipality or local authority. Cash-strapped public bodies are usually the ones that test for contamination which, if found, would oblige the owners, or in some cases the local authorities, to pay for remediation.
A High Court ruling in the UK in October found Havering Council in London responsible for cleaning up an illegal landfill located on private land, overturning the council’s refusal to designate the land as contaminated. Known notoriously as the ‘Rainham Volcano’ due to outbreaks of fire every summer for nearly a decade, the ruling now means the council has a legal obligation to ensure its clean-up, with an estimated cost of up to £10m.
An EU-wide clean-up would be substantial. Research from private company Waste to Energy International put the estimated cost, including the UK but not Norway, at between €100 billion and €1 trillion.
The EU Landfills Directive ushered in a wave of closures for old sites, as well as renovations for active ones, but it did not impose comprehensive mapping duties on EU states, nor a general obligation to ensure all closed sites were made safe.
The European Commission has opened 42 infringement proceedings against member states relating to on-the-ground breaches of the Landfills Directive since 1999, involving both legal and illegal dump sites, Investigate Europe’s analysis found. Yet nearly half of those still remain open, according to the official database.
Cyprus, Spain, Slovenia and Slovakia are among those to have been brought before the European Court of Justice, some on multiple occasions. Italy, one of the worst-performing member states, has paid hundreds of millions in penalties relating to its track record on waste management. In one case alone, it has paid €326 million, according to figures published this April by the European Commission.
The European Commission has opened 42 infringement proceedings against member states relating to on-the-ground breaches of the Landfills Directive since 1999, involving both legal and illegal dump sites, Investigate Europe’s analysis found. Yet nearly half of those still remain open, according to the official database.
Cyprus, Spain, Slovenia and Slovakia are among those to have been brought before the European Court of Justice, some on multiple occasions. Italy, one of the worst-performing member states, has paid hundreds of millions in penalties relating to its track record on waste management. In one case alone, it has paid €326 million, according to figures published this April by the European Commission.
Polluted water inside the Maratholaka site in Greece, which closed in 2022. Laboratory tests found levels of PFAs 76 times higher than the drinking water standard in the run-off.Credit: Nick Paleologos
Beneath Waterstown Park in Dublin, where the River Liffey runs, it's estimated that over a million tonnes of municipal waste was dumped in a landfill that has now been covered over.Credit: Conor O’Carroll
Household waste on the site where the La Basselerie landfill in France's Loire Valley once sat, before being closed in the 1990s.Credit: Leïla Miñano
Landfill waste found along the Thames Estuary in the UK, where two legacy landfill sites exist. Credit: Juliet Ferguson
In some instances, EU enforcement efforts have failed to comprehensively resolve problems. Investigate Europe reviewed many closed infringement cases and found several sites still seemed to present issues years later.
One is the sprawling Malagrotta on the outskirts of Rome, once considered the biggest dump in Europe, which has been contaminating its environs for decades. Malagrotta closed in 2013, and the European Commission ended its official case three years later, keeping it under observation. But work to neutralise the site’s environmental impact only started this year. A 2024 report noted that leachate was contaminating the soil and groundwater around the site.
Another case is Temploni in Corfu, which is no longer subject to an official infringement case, but where excess trash is still piled up. This summer, it caught fire, billowing smoke onto the Greek island.
One is the sprawling Malagrotta on the outskirts of Rome, once considered the biggest dump in Europe, which has been contaminating its environs for decades. Malagrotta closed in 2013, and the European Commission ended its official case three years later, keeping it under observation. But work to neutralise the site’s environmental impact only started this year. A 2024 report noted that leachate was contaminating the soil and groundwater around the site.
Another case is Temploni in Corfu, which is no longer subject to an official infringement case, but where excess trash is still piled up. This summer, it caught fire, billowing smoke onto the Greek island.
“The lack of consistent, centralised data makes it nearly impossible to get a full picture, which is exactly why the findings of this investigation are so important.”
— MEP Jutta Paulus
A review of the Landfills Directive is scheduled for next year, but no requirements for states to map all landfills or deal with safety issues from historical sites are anticipated to be part of any changes, a source close to the process told Investigate Europe.
“The lack of consistent, centralised data makes it nearly impossible to get a full picture, which is exactly why the findings of this investigation are so important,” MEP Jutta Paulus said. “Without stronger monitoring and a thorough integration of landfill risks into waste and climate policies, Europe risks serious impacts on its water, soil and air.”
The European Commission failed to respond to multiple requests for comment about the number of and risks posed by landfills across Europe by the time of publication.
In the absence of official action, some citizens have taken matters into their own hands. In France, hundreds of landfills identified in the analysis were provided by Hugo Meslard-Hayot, an activist who has spent years mapping sites in the Loire Valley. For him, the need to know where these landfills are is a fundamental public interest. “People need to know so they don't build their homes, schools, or parks on landfills that could be toxic,” he said, adding with a smile, “We also need to tell them that the best waste is no waste at all.”
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Additional reporting: Eurydice Bersi, Lorenzo Buzzoni, Pascal Hansens, Ella Joyner, Leïla Miñano, Conor O’Carroll and Rachel Salvidge.
Editing: Chris Matthews and Mei-Ling McNamara
This story is the first release from Toxic Ground, an investigation led and coordinated by Investigate Europe and Watershed Investigations. It is being published with media partners around Europe including Arte, Altreconomia, EU Observer, the Guardian, InfoLibre, ITV News, The Journal Investigates, Reporterre, Reporters United and Visão.
The project is supported by Journalismfund.eu.
“The lack of consistent, centralised data makes it nearly impossible to get a full picture, which is exactly why the findings of this investigation are so important,” MEP Jutta Paulus said. “Without stronger monitoring and a thorough integration of landfill risks into waste and climate policies, Europe risks serious impacts on its water, soil and air.”
The European Commission failed to respond to multiple requests for comment about the number of and risks posed by landfills across Europe by the time of publication.
In the absence of official action, some citizens have taken matters into their own hands. In France, hundreds of landfills identified in the analysis were provided by Hugo Meslard-Hayot, an activist who has spent years mapping sites in the Loire Valley. For him, the need to know where these landfills are is a fundamental public interest. “People need to know so they don't build their homes, schools, or parks on landfills that could be toxic,” he said, adding with a smile, “We also need to tell them that the best waste is no waste at all.”
--------
Additional reporting: Eurydice Bersi, Lorenzo Buzzoni, Pascal Hansens, Ella Joyner, Leïla Miñano, Conor O’Carroll and Rachel Salvidge.
Editing: Chris Matthews and Mei-Ling McNamara
This story is the first release from Toxic Ground, an investigation led and coordinated by Investigate Europe and Watershed Investigations. It is being published with media partners around Europe including Arte, Altreconomia, EU Observer, the Guardian, InfoLibre, ITV News, The Journal Investigates, Reporterre, Reporters United and Visão.
The project is supported by Journalismfund.eu.
