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Is The Waste Industry Being Subsidised By Landfill Tax?

By 25 June 2019October 13th, 2022No Comments
waste in a landfill

Is The Waste Industry Being Subsidised By Landfill Tax?

The waste industry is often overlooked by members of the public, but it provides a vital service. Without landfills, we’d have nowhere to dispose of unwanted items and littering would become an epidemic. However, many people complain about landfill tax – especially the rising prices. So, is the waste industry being subsidised by landfill tax?

What Is Landfill Tax?

Landfill tax was introduced to ensure any organisation that wishes to use landfills when they dispose of waste, have to pay for the privilege. The primary purpose of landfill tax is to encourage companies to use environmentally friendly alternatives for waste removal.

Operators of landfills pay the taxes, and they pass on charges to the companies that use them. Unfortunately, the increasing tax rates have lead to more cases of fly-tipping and unlicensed disposal sites. You should always hire a skip for your waste removal requirements from a reputable waste removal specialist. At Reliable Skip, we cover Camberley, Southampton and Slough with a variety of skip sizes.

The Positive Aspects of Landfill Tax

We’ll get into the negatives soon, but it’s important to mention the positive aspects of landfill tax. Issues such as global warming, plastic materials harming our wildlife and excess littering are at the forefront of the political agenda. Perhaps the best thing about landfill tax is that companies are choosing to recycle more, which reduces waste.

While landfill taxes benefit the environment to some extent, there are also negatives surrounding them. If people don’t want to pay for the right to dispose of their waste at the tip, what do they do with it?

The Unavoidable Truth

You’d think landfill tax would hit the operators hard, but they seem to use it to their advantage. Commercial waste processing facilities have embraced the taxes and use them as an excuse for raising their entry prices.

Every year the inevitable increase in taxes causes commercial waste companies to worry about how their business will survive. The rates rise every April, and companies have to raise their costs to accommodate for landfill tax. Large waste companies often make phone calls to tips across the UK, asking how much they will raise their prices but don’t get a definitive answer.

One of the biggest issues is landfills ignoring their diversion rates when it suits them. For example, if a landfill promotes itself as diverting 60% of waste for recycling, then people are more likely to use that landfill. Why? Because recycling and environmental issues are important to companies, and they like to contribute to sustainable practices. However, landfill facilities seem to forget their diversion rates when they calculate their charges.

If a facility charges a certain amount for mixed waste, then they shouldn’t charge companies for items that are being diverted. Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to be the case, and landfill facilities are taking full advantage of the tax.

The Future For Landfill Tax

While there are many negative aspects of landfill tax, it serves a purpose for the environment. Companies are more conscious of the waste they’re disposing of, and look for greener alternatives which contribute to sustainability. However, the problem isn’t is with landfill tax itself but with the operators that us it to their advantage.

If a facility wants to raise its prices, why not be honest about it? Instead, they hide under the cover of landfill tax while they make a profit.