Mucking Marshes Landfill is a major landfill

Landfill

A landfill site , is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment...

 site servicing London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, close to the hamlet of Mucking

Mucking

Mucking is a hamlet and former Church of England parish adjoining the Thames estuary in southern Essex, England. It is located approximately 2 miles south of the town of Stanford le Hope in what is now Thurrock unitary authority.-Early history:...

. Covering hundreds of acres of former gravel

Gravel

Gravel is composed of unconsolidated rock fragments that have a general particle size range and include size classes from granule- to boulder-sized fragments. Gravel can be sub-categorized into granule and cobble...

 quarry

Quarry

A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...

, it is one of the largest landfills in Western Europe

Western Europe

Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...

 and has been filled for decades with municipal and commercial waste

Commercial waste

Commercial waste consists of waste from premises used wholly or mainly for the purposes of a trade or business or for the purpose of sport, recreation, education or entertainment but not including household; agricultural or industrial waste .-See also:...

 floated thirty miles down the River Thames

River Thames

The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...

 in barges to Mucking Wharf

Wharf

A wharf or quay is a structure on the shore of a harbor where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers.Such a structure includes one or more berths , and may also include piers, warehouses, or other facilities necessary for handling the ships.A wharf commonly comprises a fixed...

. The barges, each carrying dozens of distinctive yellow containers, are a familiar, though rarely commented-upon, sight along the Thames through Central London. Once the barges have travelled 30 miles (48.3 km) downstream from Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge is a combined bascule and suspension bridge in London, England, over the River Thames. It is close to the Tower of London, from which it takes its name...

, mechanical cranes

Crane (machine)

A crane is a type of machine, generally equipped with a hoist, wire ropes or chains, and sheaves, that can be used both to lift and lower materials and to move them horizontally. It uses one or more simple machines to create mechanical advantage and thus move loads beyond the normal capability of...

 at Mucking Wharf unload the containers onto truck

Truck

A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...

s. The trucks make their way up the artificial mound

Mound

A mound is a general term for an artificial heaped pile of earth, gravel, sand, rocks, or debris. The most common use is in reference to natural earthen formation such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. The term may also be applied to any rounded area of topographically...

 created by decades of garbage compaction that towers over the surrounding flat landscape. Flocks of seagulls and other scavenging estuarine birds are a familiar sight as the trucks disgorge their contents.

The landfill site itself, although it dominates the village of Mucking

Mucking

Mucking is a hamlet and former Church of England parish adjoining the Thames estuary in southern Essex, England. It is located approximately 2 miles south of the town of Stanford le Hope in what is now Thurrock unitary authority.-Early history:...

, is strictly guarded and is surrounded by a perimeter fence

Perimeter fence

A perimeter fence is a structure that circles the perimeter of an area to prevent access. These fences are frequently made out of single vertical metal bars connected at the top and bottom with a horizontal bar. They often have spikes on the top to prevent climbing. Residential perimeter fences are...

 more than four miles (6 km) long. Cory Environmental

Cory Environmental

Cory Environmental is a large waste disposal company based in the United Kingdom. Cory operates in more than 30 locations throughout England, providing services in the collection, recycling and disposal of waste as well as municipal cleansing.-Operations:...

, the operators of the site, have gated off Mucking Wharf Road, meaning that spectacular views of the Thames meeting the North Sea

North Sea

In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...

 can now be accessed from Mucking only via a circuitous footpath through the neighbouring village of East Tilbury

East Tilbury

East Tilbury is a village in the unitary authority of Thurrock borough, England and one of the traditional parishes in Thurrock.-History:In Saxon times, the location on which the church now stands was surrounded by tidal marshland...

.

In recent years, changes in London governance, including the creation of the Greater London Authority

Greater London Authority

The Greater London Authority is the top-tier administrative body for Greater London, England. It consists of a directly elected executive Mayor of London, currently Boris Johnson, and an elected 25-member London Assembly with scrutiny powers...

 under Ken Livingstone

Ken Livingstone

Kenneth Robert "Ken" Livingstone is an English politician who is currently a member of the centrist to centre-left Labour Party...

 have led to indications of a future reassessment of London's waste strategy based more on recycling and less on landfill sites like Mucking Marshes. However, as of November 2007, Mucking continues to be the destination for a large proportion of London's waste

Waste

Waste is unwanted or useless materials. In biology, waste is any of the many unwanted substances or toxins that are expelled from living organisms, metabolic waste; such as urea, sweat or feces. Litter is waste which has been disposed of improperly...

, although the effect of tough new European Union directive

European Union directive

A directive is a legislative act of the European Union, which requires member states to achieve a particular result without dictating the means of achieving that result. It can be distinguished from regulations which are self-executing and do not require any implementing measures. Directives...

s may change this in the future.

In 2007, Mucking Marshes Landfill was granted an extension to receive London's waste until 2010.