Increase in landfill tax could worsen fly-tipping
March 29, 2007 at 7:43 am
The Countryside Alliance has criticised Gordon Brown’s
recent increase in landfill tax, warning that it will herald epidemic levels of illegal rubbish dumping, otherwise known as ‘fly-tipping’.
The latest budget sees the standard rate of landfill tax go up from £21 per tonne to £24 per tonne. The Government has also announced an annual increase of £8 per tonne from 1st April 2008 until at least 2010-2011.
A special investigation by the Countryside Alliance found that nearly 2.5 million incidents of illegal rubbish dumping were reported to local authorities and the Environment Agency between May 2005 and April 2006. The cost of clearing up this waste is estimated at £100 million. The report marks the start of a national campaign against fly-tipping, which is seen as environmentally damaging, unsightly, hazardous to the public and expensive for the taxpayer.
Though presented by the Government as a move towards better waste management and higher levels of recycling, the increase in landfill tax raises the cost of rubbish disposal and could risk making fly-tipping more appealing.
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