Landfill Tax Credits should go to waste objectives, suggests DEFRA

The Treasury and the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs explain that the purpose of this consultation is to seek views on determining
priority areas for funding from the Landfill Tax Credits Scheme (LTCS) or any replacement. In addition the consultation document seeks views on the relative merits of different funding mechanisms, views on design options for a possible replacement to the LTCS and views on possible transitional arrangements should the LTCS scheme be replaced.

The paper explains that the Landfill Tax itself is intended to discourage disposal of waste to landfill. It notes that the government has issued indicative guidelines already to encourage landfill operators to deliver more LTCS funds to this purpose.

Resources
The paper says that given that the Landfill Tax is intended to encourage alternatives to landfill, using resources from the tax in his way would help to achieve this objective. “This would also help waste producers to respond to the tax and enable them to reduce
the amount of tax which they have to pay by producing less waste for landfill.
The indicative targets set by the Government for the landfill operators have been a
step in his direction.”

But, the consultation points out that the tax is already encouraging some waste minimisation, re-use and recycling and the intention of the escalator for the standard rate of the tax is to reinforce and increase this effect.

The consultation paper says that the LTCS could be used for:

• a) encouraging further or quicker behavioural change in line with the environmental objective of the tax (ie more sustainable waste management);

• b) dealing with environmental externalities associated with landfill (ie local
  community projects in the vicinity of landfill sites);

• c) achieving other Government objectives (this could include biodiversity and
  land remediation objectives or other wider objectives).

Feedback
The consultation document can be seen at the consultations section of the Treasury website Treasury website. Responses are due in by June 17 2002 to: LTCS Consultation Team, DEFRA, 7F9 Ashdown House, 123 Victoria Street, London SW1E 6DE.