Landfill Tax and the environmental body or Landfill Tax Credit Scheme in East Anglia

The Landfill Tax was introduced in 1996 'to ensure that landfill waste disposal is properly priced so as to reflect its environmental cost' and secondly, 'to promote a more sustainable approach to waste management in which less waste is produced and more waste is either reused or has value recovered from it' (HM Customs and Excise 1998). The tax is also being used to redirect revenue rather than increase the fiscal burden on business. Funds raised by the tax are used to reduce the employer's contribution to National Insurance and to fund environmental projects through the Environmental Body or Landfill Tax Credit Scheme. Notwithstanding three reviews, there remain questions still unanswered in relation to the operation of the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme (LTCS), and ENTRUST has not been prepared to publish data relating to specific landfill operators' contributions to the LTCS which has meant that certain aspects of the LTCS have not been evaluated. The authors surveyed landfill operators with a view to addressing issues relating to the way operators are contributing to the LTCS generally and in the Anglian Region in particular by way of example, with a view to recommending improvements.