- Media & Campaigns
- Press releases
- 2008
- September 2008
- Barriers to building waste plants remain - LGA
- First post office branch saved from closure by councils
- 700 hurdles and a maze of red tape for people needing help at home
- Home insulation plans 'victory for common sense' - LGA
- Margaret Eaton becomes first woman chairman of Local Government Association
- Home insulation will cut bills year after year - LGA
- New research torpedoes energy firm windfall tax claims
- Firms should reveal where our recycling ends up - LGA
- Top ten playground games to (hop)scotch obesity levels
- Keeping families in their homes must be priority
- Town halls issue five point plan on homeowner rescue package
Barriers to building waste plants remain - LGA
LGA press release - 25 September 2008
Commenting on the Audit Commission report – Well Disposed: responding to the waste challenge – Cllr Paul Bettison, Chairman of the Local Government Association Environment Board, said:
“Local people and local councils deserve great credit for the steps that have been taken to increase our recycling rates. However, there remains a pressing need to do more to reduce this country’s reliance on dumping rubbish in the ground. Britain throws more waste into landfill than any other country in the EU, and these sites are expensive for the council taxpayer and damaging to the environment.
“Councils are pulling out the stops to deliver projects that will deal with waste. But the reality is the Government has hit the council taxpayer with a £1.5 billion bill over the next three years by going back on its undertaking to refund money raised through landfill tax to local authorities. This is cash that could be used to build the facilities that are needed to divert waste away from landfill.
“There remain many barriers to building the waste disposal plants that the country needs. The Government should at least join local councils in making the case for these new facilities. Ultimately the cost of not dealing with our waste mountain will be higher in the longer term if we do not start to take action now.”
Author: LGA media office
Contact: Matt Nicholls, 0207 664 3333
See also
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Waste and recycling Waste services is no longer just about collection and disposal of materials, but is about waste reduction (minimisation), reuse, recycling, and looking for alternatives to landfill for those materials left over. District councils have a responsibility to collect waste and recyclables, county councils to dispose of waste and unitary authorities have both duties.