Landfill Tax

A key driver to reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill is the ever increasing cost. Historically, and in particular where there is an abundance of land voids to use for landfilling, landfill has always been seen as cheapest option of all the waste disposal routes.

However, the introduction of the Landfill Tax in 1999, meant that the cost of landfill increased by £10 per tonne with a year on year increase of £1 per tonne until 2004/05 when it would reach £15 per tonne. A review in 2002 recommended an increase in landfill landfill tax of £3 per tonne per year from 2004/05 up to a maximum of £35 per tonne by 2011/12.

There are no indications from Government that there will be any further increases in the cost of landfill either before or after that period, however there has recently been a number of new pieces of legislation which restrict the amounts of Boidegradable Municiple Waste we can take to landfill.