ABSTRACT
Unlike air and water pollution, national legislation to prevent pollution from solid wastes was only introduced in the UK in the twentieth century. Before the introduction of the Control of Pollution Act (COPA) in 1974, legislative provision was based on local Acts or permissive powers in legislation, normally covering other aspects of pollution or public health. Indeed, many sections of the Control of Pollution Act 1974 Part I, Waste on Land, were not implemented because the necessary regulations were not introduced for many years. Section 1, which placed a duty on each waste disposal authority (WDA) to arrange for the disposal of all controlled waste in its area, was never implemented, and now Part I of the 1974 Act has been superseded by Part II of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA).
