Underground waste disposal and the meaning of 'landfill'

In its first decision concerning the 2002 landfill regulations, the High Court has adopted a generous interpretation of the meaning of "landfill" and held that it could encompass the injection of liquid waste into underground strata. The case raised difficult issues over the complexity of potentially overlapping regimes in contemporary environmental legislation, particularly where liquid discharges are concerned, but the Court has given a clear signal of the significance and reach of the new landfill regime.