Refuse Disposal Works
SpecialIndustrialHouseholdCommercialInert
Refuse Disposal Works is a historic (closed) landfill site recorded by the Environment Agency near Brighouse. It received special (hazardous), industrial, household, commercial and inert waste between 1924 and 1987, covering about 3.25 hectares. Reference EAHLD04101, October 2025 data revision.
Full record
| EA reference | EAHLD04101 |
|---|---|
| Site name | Refuse Disposal Works |
| Address | Brighouse, West Yorkshire |
| Site operator | Borough of Brighouse Cleansing Department |
| Licence holder | West Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council |
| Licence issued | 31 March 1977 |
| Licence surrendered | 21 August 1987 |
| First waste input | 31 December 1924 |
| Last waste input | 31 July 1987 |
| Area | 3.25 ha |
| Gas control | Yes |
| Leachate containment | Not recorded |
| Licensed site | Yes |
| EA area | Ridings NE |
| Grid reference | 414000, 422700 |
Source: Environment Agency Historic Landfill Sites dataset, October 2025 revision.
Boundary map
What these waste types mean
- Special:
- the licensing-era term for hazardous waste — asbestos, chemicals, oils. The category that most warrants a closer look.
- Industrial:
- factory and process waste. Contents vary widely — some benign, some not; the site's operator and era are the clues.
- Household:
- everyday domestic refuse. Decomposes and can generate landfill gas for a few decades after closure.
- Commercial:
- waste from shops and offices — paper, packaging, food. Similar profile to household waste, usually less of it.
- Inert:
- builder's rubble, subsoil, concrete, brick. Doesn't decompose or generate gas; the lowest-concern category.
Other historic landfill sites nearby
- The LillandsWaste types not recorded
- Bottemly and Emerson's TipSpecialIndustrialCommercialInert
- Iredale's TipIndustrialCommercialInert
- Squire Hill QuarriesWaste types not recorded
- Ashlar CentreHouseholdCommercial
- Gas HolderCommercialInert
What this data does — and doesn't — cover
- Licensed-era records only. Waste licensing began in 1974. Older tips — especially small pre-war ones — are incompletely recorded, so absence from this data does not mean no landfill ever existed here.
- Not the contaminated-land register. Councils hold a separate register of land determined as contaminated. A historic landfill entry is not a contamination determination, and vice versa.
- Boundaries are indicative. Digitised at 1:10,000 scale; some are buffers around a point rather than surveyed edges.
- Not a substitute for a formal environmental search. If you're buying, your conveyancer's environmental search checks this and several other sources.
EA Historic Landfill dataset, October 2025 revision. More on the methodology page.