Skip to main content

Home - News - Further tax increase for UK businesses set for April 1

News/Blog

Jun21Further tax increase for UK businesses set for April 1

Businesses could face Landfill Tax bills of £4,000 a month or more

It may be April Fools Day, but it’s no joke that from 1 April 2010 Landfill Tax will increase from £40 to £48 per tonne as the Government attempts to reduce the amount of waste that ends up in the ground.

This means that even a business producing a relatively small amount of waste will feel the effect of the new price hike as tax now accounts for almost 30 percent of the overall cost of waste collection and disposal for many businesses.

Giles Whiteley, chief executive of SWR Waste Management, said: “While increasing tax is a good way to encourage the diversion of waste from landfill, it does have a big impact on businesses not recycling effectively. Even a small business with a couple of wheelie bins can expect to pay in the region of £15 – £30 a month in tax alone. A larger organisation, for example a retail outfit with 100 or more sites, could be footing a tax bill in the region of £4,000 a month. Few people realise that this is the case as the tax in wrapped up in the price of collections.”

“We have also noticed that some waste service providers are using the rise in Landfill Tax as a means to increase their prices by a much greater amount than the tax warrants. Several organisations have already contacted us warning of price hikes of up to £1.50 per bin emptied. This is at least twice the amount that might be considered fair, even considering higher fuel costs.”

In addition to rapidly increasing Landfill Tax costs, which by 2013 will be a massive £72 per tonne, gate fees at landfill sites are also on the rise as space becomes a premium. These are all costs that get passed on to the end customer. However it is possible to avoid these costs and reduce the overall cost of waste disposal.

Giles added: “Businesses need to start seriously considering the alternatives to landfill, by looking at ways in which to reduce, reuse, recycle or recover the waste they produce. This will certainly result in lower costs with less tax to be paid. At the very least, businesses should be separating as much of their recyclable waste as possible to minimise their exposure to landfill tax.”

There is no ‘one size fits all’ solution when it comes to effective waste management, as all businesses produce different types and amounts of waste. SWR recommends a coordinated waste plan for the entire business focused on reducing costs and improving recycling and environmental performance.

SWR helps businesses to minimise costs by maximising levels of recycling and reducing the amount of waste going to landfill. “The majority of our customers recycle in excess of 75 percent of their waste within three months of working with us, potentially saving thousands of pounds in Landfill Tax each year. The UK is a long way behind the rest of Europe in terms of the percentage of waste that goes to landfill. The opportunity for cost saving is therefore significant for UK business and SWR is set up to manage the change process for its customers,” said Giles.

For more information on how your business could avoid costly Landfill Tax rises, become more environmentally friendly, and comply with environmental legislation, contact us on 0800 432 0550

Comments are closed.