Herbert: Time to end our reliance on landfill
10 June 2009
Speaking at the Futuresource Conference at the Excel Centre today, Shadow Environment Secretary Nick Herbert said that a Conservative Government would put a floor under the announced 2013 landfill tax rate up to 2020, to provide the waste industry with the stability to invest for the long-term in alternatives to landfill.
Extracts from Nick Herbert’s speech:
“For too long we have simply buried waste in the ground and forgotten about it. But landfill is the most environmentally damaging way to dispose of rotting rubbish. The time has come to end our reliance on landfill and find greener ways to deal with waste. And to recognise that waste is a resource which can be used for materials and energy.
“Labour’s failure to act means that Britain continues to lag behind our peer group countries in recycling rates and in using technology to deal with waste in more constructive and environmentally friendly ways. While landfill is the easy or cheap option, alternative solutions will not develop. So we have to make landfill less attractive.
“In April’s Budget, the Treasury announced that the landfill tax escalator for the standard rate of landfill tax will be extended up until 2013, meaning that it will rise from its current rate of £40 per tonne to £72 per tonne. But the Government has not set out its plans beyond this date, so future levels of the tax are still uncertain. As George Osborne said last year, entrepreneurs and businesses need a long-term framework so that they can provide innovative approaches to waste.
“So today I can confirm that a future Conservative Government will put a floor under the 2013 level of landfill tax at £72 per tonne until 2020. This will be indexed for inflation from that date. So businesses will have certainty for the next decade. We are sending a strong message to companies and councils that innovative approaches – such as the Recyclebank trial that is currently taking place in Windsor and Maidenhead – can be developed with confidence.”