How the latest budget affects rubbish collection

With the announcement of the new government’s first budget last week, it may have not come as a surprise to many that there were no specific changes mentioned about the way in which we deal with our rubbish collection and our waste management systems in the UK.

Announcements that are due to affect the waste management and rubbish collection industry

However, there were a number of announcements that will affect the waste management industry and these include; an increased landfill tax of £8 per tonne until at least 2014, which in turn creates a floor under the tax at £80 per tonne until at least 2020.

This will mean that local authorities if they own a landfill site will be charged for the amount of waste that they send to a landfill rather than having it recycled. Similarly, if the landfill is privately owned, the business will be charged for receiving the waste from the waste management companies.

In addition, it is worth bearing in mind that all waste management and rubbish collection issues come under the branch of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Department which will need to reduce its budget by at least 25% by 2015.

These changes will need to be incorporated into how local authorities and businesses manage their current waste and rubbish collection situations and should hopefully encourage the use of recycling.