Following yesterday’s (15 March) Spring Budget, CIWM has called for the funds raised from the plastic packaging tax to be ring-fenced and invested in UK infrastructure for plastic recycling.
The membership organisation representing resource and waste managers says ring-fencing the funds raised from the tax would also create new job opportunities and reduce the UK’s reliance on plastic imports.
CIWM welcomed the announcement from Jeremy Hunt that the plastic packaging tax will rise in line with CPI (Consumer Prices Index) from April this year. However, the organisation believes there should be some form of “escalator”, with lower rates of tax being applied to packaging with higher recycled content to stimulate further demand for recycled plastic.
CIWM says it is also pleased that the landfill tax will rise by RPI over the next two years, as it says this will give the sector a “degree of stability” in the short term. However, it is disappointing that, what CIWM calls, the “enormous disparity” between the two rates of landfill tax has not been tackled, as this is one of the “main motivations” behind waste criminality.
The creation of a landfill tax grant scheme will help fund the clean-up and remediation of contaminated land.
The organisation continues that it has engaged with HMT and HMRC previously on the matter and looks forward to working closely with them on the future of this tax in due course.
Lee Marshall, Policy and External Affairs Director, CIWM, commented: “The creation of a landfill tax grant scheme will help fund the clean-up and remediation of contaminated land, which could be used for further housing and industrial development, thereby taking the pressure off the green belt. The use of landfill tax funds in this manner is a positive step that CIWM fully supports.
Marshall continued that confirmation of the VAT status of the DRS in the budget is welcome, but he warned that the “devil will be in the detail” when the regulations have been made public.
