Council leaders are calling on Government to freeze the landfill tax and redistribute the revenue to local taxpayers.
The Local Government Association (LGA) is urging the chancellor, George Osborne, to cap the tax at £72 in this month’s budget rather than proceed with the planned increase to £80 per tonne from April. It said the money raised from this tax should not be kept by the Treasury but instead be invested in local recycling facilities.
Cllr Mike Jones, chair of the LGA’s Environment and Housing Board, said: ‘Instead of using the receipts from the tax to boost recycling technologies and reward residents for the gains made in recycling levels, the Treasury has held onto receipts.
‘In its present form, landfill tax is punishing taxpayers, who are paying £30 per household every year but seeing no returns. We need a clear indication from the Chancellor that this tax will be frozen at its present rate, with the money raised from it returned to taxpayers and invested in growth.’
The LGA said there was no evidence to suggest an increase in landfill tax would improve recycling rates, yet the planned increase would cost taxpayers £200m more in 2020.
