Landfill tax increases of Â£8 per tonne a year could mean an extra £1.4 million of Cambridgeshire taxpayer’s money ending up in Government coffers.

Robert Sturdy MEP, who sits on the Environment Committee, is urging Gordon Brown to plough this extra money back into Cambridgeshire, one of the top recycling authorities in the country, and used on recycling projects . Surely that makes good sense. This is Robert’s letter:

I am writing to you to urge you to guarantee that the extra money raised by  the increased landfill tax will be invested into local recycling schemes. The intention of this tax increase must be to deter local authorities from using landfill as a waste disposal option and to punish those that do. If this money is not re-invested into recycling programs, then all that is being achieved is a higher tax and a greater strain on already stretched budgets every year, as local councils find themselves unable to afford to use more environmentally friendly waste disposal methods.

This increase is likely to cost Cambridgeshire County Council alone an extra £1.4 million next year despite Cambridgeshire having one of the best recycling records in the UK. It already recycles 50% of its waste and is moving towards 60%. The cost to County Councils with a poorer record of recycling will be even higher. This is counter-productive because the burden of this extra tax will mean that local councils may find themselves with insufficient money to fund recycling efforts. How can the Government justify this tax increase when it undermines the very aim it is trying to achieve?

With the increased public awareness of the importance of recycling and a more responsible approach to waste disposal, now more than ever the Government needs to ensure incentives are there to engage local people in reaching our goals.