As a part of the Spring Budget, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt stated that there will be an increase in the standard rate of Landfill tax.

Landfill tax has two rates, that are charged by weight, these are:

The Retail Price Index (RPI) is reflected by the increase in Landfill tax, as stated by the Government. The rates are rising in order to incentivise more sustainable waste management infrastructure.

The waste sector has predominately welcomed the rise in Landfill tax. Some Local Authorities in the UK have stated that the RPI in the state is not going to work as they said it won’t add to the surprise of the inflation costs. The construction sector will be largely impacted by this rise in landfill tax. [1]

However, there are some local authorities that depend on landfill as their primary disposal route for waste that is produced in the area, implying that the 20% increase in disposal costs will not be highly welcomed. [2]

Landfill tax receipts provisional totals from 2022-2023 were £626 million, which was 6% lower than the previous financial year. The landfill tax tonnage followed the same pattern, with there being 22,354 thousand tonnes declared in the 2022-2023 financial year, which was 2% lower than the previous financial year.

The increase will result in £50 million being raised for the HM Treasury in 2025-2026. Once the move is in full effect in a couple of years, £45 million will be raised in 2028-2029. [2]

How Can WPSCC Help?

WPS Compliance Consulting can provide clients with achieving a level of BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) accreditation in their projects. BREEAM Construction Resource Efficiency (Wst 01.1) and BREEAM Diversion Resources Landfill (Wst 01.2) credits were originally satisfied by producing a Site Waste Management Plan (SWMP), however this is now 1 element of a site Resource Waste Management Plan (RMP). This combines waste management with the measuring of site impacts.

Waste Management Practices Require:

> Forecasting waste production
> Documenting Waste Minimisation practices to be employed
> Recording ALL waste arisings
> Reviewing waste management performance by comparing actual arisings against forecasts
> Documenting satisfaction of Waste Duty of Care (DOC) compliance
> Implementation of the Waste Hierarchy to identify reuse / recycle / disposal performance, showing tonnages and percentages of  waste diverted from landfill

WPSCC’s software tool www.siteplan.online can include the recording of this data and will report this as part of the site’s Resource Management Plan (RMP).

Call us NOW on 01604 859961, or email [email protected] to ask our advice / guidance.

[1] Dennis, P. (2024). Landfill tax rates increase as part of the Spring Budget. Circular. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.circularonline.co.uk/news/landfill-tax-rates-increase-as-part-of-the-spring-budget/.

[2] Doherty, J. (2024). Landfill tax raised to £126.15 from 2025/26. LetsRecycle. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.letsrecycle.com/news/landfill-tax-to-jump-21-6-to-126-15-from-2025-26/.