Ageing landfills at risk of leaking into water supplies

Thousands of landfills across the UK and Europe sit in floodplains, posing a potential threat to drinking water and conservation areas if toxic waste is released into rivers, soils and ecosystems, it can be revealed.

- Leana Hosea Juliet Ferguson

The findings are the result of the first continent-wide mapping of landfills, conducted by the Guardian, Watershed Investigations and Investigate Europe.

Patrick Byrne, of Liverpool John Moores University, said: "With increasing frequency and magnitudes of floods and erosion from climate change, there's a greater risk of these wastes washing into our environment.

"This includes physical waste like plastics and building materials, but also toxic metals and chemicals such as Pfas ['forever chemicals'] and PCBs [polychlorinated biphenyls]."