East Sussex County Council is confident that it will not have to pay any penalty for exceeding its landfill allocation, despite exceeding its allowance last year by 13,400t. A council spokesman said it hoped to have a surplus this year, partly because it has ‘been so successful in encouraging reduction, reuse and recycling of household waste over the last few years’. The council aims to reduce the amount of biodegradable waste put in landfill sites to 76% of 1995 levels by 2010.