Landfill tax branded a flop
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• The landfill tax has failed to achieve its objectives, according to a report by accountantcy firm Coopers and Lybrand.
It says that the tax has not reduced the amount of waste sent to landfill and 76% of local authorities have registered an increase in fly-tipping since the tax's introduction last October.
Tony Cook, controller of the Road Haulage Association's waste division, believes the report reflects the "dire consequences" predicted by the RHA. "We feel that there should be tax incentives for demonstrating that companies have recycled and re-used materials," he says. "There should not be tax penalties."
Cook hopes the report will not encourage the Government to increase the rate of landfill tax; he feels it has not been run for long enough to measure its success. Some waste and environment experts are said to believe that an increase is the only way to achieve the tax's goals.
Francis Merriman, managing director of Salford.based Mersey Plant Services, fears an increase would be "disastrous" in terms of jobs. "There has already been a downturn in work caused by this," he says. "Don't increase it !"