06Dec

Investment warning over Autumn Statement

Posted on 6th December, 2013

Concerns have been raised that the lack of certainty on landfill tax after 2015/16 in the December 5 Autumn Statement may jeopardise future green growth and investment in the waste sector.

George Osborne’s Statement was met with disappointment in the waste management industry as it included no mention of landfill tax, which is set to rise from £72 per tonne to £80 per tonne in April next year. Beyond 2015/16 the levy rate has not been set, but it is thought that it will not fall below £80 before 2020.

As such, the Environmental Services Association (ESA) said it was “disappointed”, arguing that the industry has been “desperately calling out for clarity on the future of landfill tax but has now effectively been told to wait until the 2014 Budget”.

An ESA spokesman said: “Without greater certainty over future landfill tax levels, the industry could struggle to persuade investors that the UK is fully committed to the circular economy and won’t return to its wasteful past.”

The spokesman said the government should be putting in place “policy and fiscal support” for infrastructure development, but that this would now be “reliant to a much greater extent on uncertain commercial and industrial waste streams which will make it harder to finance”.

The spokesman commented: “We can only hope that the Budget next year will finally bring us the clarity we need on landfill tax and the support which would help underpin the development of merchant waste infrastructure.”