Waste – why do landfill charge?

Posted on January 19, 2018 in Waste Solutions

With landfill sites based all across the country, you need to be a registered account holder to dispose of waste at your local landfill. Both commercial and household waste ends up in landfills.

With waste disposal charged per tonne and landfill taxes and VAT applied in addition to this, landfill is the least attractive place to dump rubbish.

What type of waste ends up in landfill?

With active waste or green waste comprising of biodegradable materials such as wood, plastic and food, the rates per tonne are much higher than inactive or inert waste which comprises of non-biodegradable materials like stone or builders waste. Inactive materials like stone cannot undergo any further changes to their properties through physical or chemical treatment, so it’s clear to see why the rate is lower than active waste.

Biodegradable waste doesn’t have to end up in landfill. It can be recycled, which explains the higher rates. It’s much more desirable for a local authority to avoid landfill charges to make savings and achieve annual targets.

Recent increases in skip hire charges have been a result of an increase in the skip tax at landfills, where the rate of disposal has increased from £2.50 per tonne to £86.10 per tonne.

What effect does biodegradable waste have on the environment?

The higher rate per tonne also reflects the push to reduce active waste which contributes to the release of greenhouse gases methane and carbon dioxide. The Landfill Directive came into action in the UK in 2002. Before their introduction, the UK was highly dependent on landfill, where 79% of the UK’s waste ended up in landfills and only 12% recycled, with the remaining 8% incinerated.

The Landfill Directives aim is to prevent and reduce harm to the environment by decreasing gases contributing to the greenhouse effect. By 2020, biodegradable waste needs to be reduced to just 35% of the amount of waste landfilled in 1995.

So what are councils doing to reduce landfill waste and charges?

Landfill disposal is expensive and unattractive. An increasing number of public places such as shopping malls, airports, train stations and cinemas are promoting an environmentally friendly approach to provide public recycling bins to help cut the waste that reaches landfills. Public parks such as the Royal Parks of London have also implemented the introduction of recycling bins to collect paper, cans, glass and plastics.

The Department for Environment and Environment Agency have produced a combined policy aimed to tackle the reduction of waste. The following outline a summary of some of the actions for waste prevention:

• Encouraging householders to reduce food waste through their websites by providing tips on how to compost and plan meals effectively to minimise food waste
• Working closely with businesses on how to manage and reduce their waste
• Administering fines and penalties for fly tipping
• Improving recycling facilities and waste collection from homes
• Closer regulation and monitoring of landfill sites
• Controlling tyre disposals and hazardous material disposal

Protech collect your waste and ensure it takes an environmental route to disposal. To find out more about how we can dispose of your commercial and domestic waste, call us on 0845 604 1288.

For information on our Waste Service please click Protech Waste Solutions.