The specialist said it is the first waste recovery permit issued for the remediation of a former landfill site.

Emerson’s Green received 100,000 tonnes of waste during the 1980s and was capped in 1988 and returned to rough agricultural use.

It is producing landfill gas which is passive venting to the atmosphere and creating leachate issues into a local brook.

It sits within a proposed major residential development scheme and was being voluntarily remediated by a consortium of house builders.

VertaseFLI was chosen to undertake the challenging remediation but the permitting process has been “excruciatingly slow and frustrating.”

Initial discussions with the Environment Agency started 18 months ago and have been delayed after shuffling from department to department.

Vertase director Mike Longman said: “The lack of guidance or precedent made the application process painfully slow with many cul-de-sacs.

“Despite everything, VertaseFLI now possess a bespoke waste recovery permit and the works commenced in the middle of October 2018 and physical works are programmed for completion in approximately 12 months.

“In addition to the normal verification required under a remediation implementation plan, we must also surrender our permit which is more akin to surrender of a landfill permit.

“We fear that as difficult as the application process was, the surrender process is likely to be even more tortuous.