The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents more than 400 councils in England and Wales, voiced its fears after the Budget was delivered to Westminster.
His announcement will see the Landfill tax rise by 8 per tonne of waste dumped, from April, 2008, every year, until at least 2010/11 (see letsrecycle.com story).
LGA chairman Sandy Bruce-Lockhart said: “The collection and disposal of rubbish is one of the key financial pressures facing local councils as the amount of waste generated is increasing year on year. This landfill tax hike will push up further the cost of sending waste to landfill and become an additional cost to council tax payers.”
| Related links: |
Lord Bruce-Lockhart says it is essential that the Comprehensive Spending Review – the Government's analysis of its own spending due out later this year – provides councils “with the money needed to manage waste against the ever increasing cost of disposal, be that landfill or recycling”.
He added: “Local authorities also need new powers to create incentives to encourage people to recycle, otherwise councils will be locked into an environmentally unfriendly way of disposing of waste, and will face a triple whammy of higher costs, higher Landfill Tax and fines.
“Councils want an ever better deal for taxpayers but the Government isn’t giving authorities additional money to meet EU legislation and this places mounting pressure on the council tax payer.”
The Environment Agency also called for extra funding to tackle the illegal dumping and fly-tipping which it says could increase as people try to avoid the higher costs.
A spokesman said: “These waste cheats harm the environment and people's quality of life, and also undermines those businesses who do comply with the law, and the investment by the waste industry and local authorities.
“Local authorities and the Environment Agency need funding to take effective enforcement against waste cheats.”
The agency says it supports the Landfill Tax as it is “an important economic instrument that sends a strong signal that the Government wishes to discourage the disposal of waste to landfill”.
The spokesman added: “Increasing Landfill Tax will encourage more businesses and local authorities to think about the waste that they produce and manage and either reduce the amount or stop sending it to landfill and recycle or recover the waste instead.”
| Related links: |
The Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC) also welcomed the rise, claiming it would make it more economic for councils to divert their waste from landfill. Neil Ferris, principal policy officer at LARAC, said: “The tax will help local authorities make more environmentally friendly choices”.
He added that LARAC hoped it would encourage the private sector to build merchant waste facilities for waste, including construction and demolition waste, “for which there had been little incentive in the past.”
Register for free to comment