Waste Disposal: Taxation

(asked on 22nd September 2021) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing tax incentives to encourage the (a) sorting and (b) biological treatment of waste before landfill for the purpose of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.


Answered by
Helen Whately Portrait
Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This question was answered on 21st October 2021

The government is committed to reducing waste going to landfill. The Resources and Waste Strategy 2018 set out commitments to eliminate all avoidable waste to landfill by 2050 and to reduce the amount of municipal waste landfilled to 10% of total municipal waste by 2035.

Landfill Tax provides an incentive for waste to be diverted away from landfill and has contributed to a reduction in local authority waste sent to landfill in England of 90% since 2000.

The government is also introducing a world leading tax on plastic packaging from April 2022. The tax will encourage the use of recycled plastic instead of new plastic within packaging. It will create greater demand for recycled plastic, and in turn stimulate increased levels of recycling and collection of plastic waste, diverting it away from landfill or incineration.

While the government has no immediate plans to introduce further tax incentives for waste management, the government will review aspects of the Landfill Tax in England and Northern Ireland in due course, as announced in spring 2021. This will ensure the tax continues to support the government’s ambitious environmental objectives.

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