Management of Landfills and Legacy Industrial Sites on Eroding and Low Lying Coastlines

This paper presents a summary of the content from an industry best practice guidance document published in 2013 by the Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA) to help coastal managers identify, assess and manage risks presented by the erosion or sea flooding of landfill sites or areas of legacy industrial uses in coastal and estuarine locations.

There are many sites of known landfill and other legacy industrial practices around the coasts and estuaries of the United Kingdom. Many sites are now disused, re-landscaped and underlying land that is accessible to the public.

The effects of coastal erosion, coastal landslips and sea flooding have, over the years, resulted in waste from some of these sites being deposited on the foreshore (Figure 1) and seeping into the coastal and marine environment.