Warning from councils over rising waste service costs

Ahead of next year's Comprehensive Spending Review, the first such major shake-up in local government funding since 1997, the LGA said today spending on local authority waste services must virtually double by 2013.

In its Autumn Statement, published today, the LGA said the task facing local authorities in meeting landfill diversion targets while being forced to make 20% “efficiency savings” in their waste budgets “is obviously not achievable”.

Councils in England manage nearly 30 million tonnes of waste each year, with targets set by government to raise recycling rates from the current 27% to 40% by 2010.

Under the Landfill Directive, councils with waste disposal responsibilities have to cut biodegradable landfill to 75% of 1995 levels by 2010 and 50% by 2013. These authorities risk fines of 200 million if they fail to meet their annual landfill limits, the LGA said.

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The LGA wants increased funding from central government and the power for councils to charge householders that do not recycle their waste.

LGA chairman Lord Sandy Bruce-Lockhart said: “Waste volumes are rising by 3% each year, Landfill Tax is rising by 15% each year and soon local government will face penalties of over 200 million if we exceed our landfill allowances.

“There will need to be increased spending by 10% each year to meet the EU Landfill Directive,” he added.

If the additional resources are not given, the LGA warned that “discretionary environmental services” vital to the quality of life for local people will suffer.

The report said: “Local government recognises, however, that it must respond to this challenge with innovative solutions to change behaviour and minimise waste, such as alternate weekly collections and introducing ‘pay as you throw’ schemes where this suits local circumstances.

But, it added: “Gaining public acceptance will be all the more difficult if government does not contribute to this national challenge and other services suffer as a result.”