Closed Loop Recycling calls for landfill tax fixed formula to 2020

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Chancellor George Osborne should announce an increase in landfill tax in next week’s Budget, according to Closed Loop Recycling.

The Dagenham-based plastics recycler also wants to see more certainty on landfill tax until 2020.

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Chief executive Chris Dow said: “From a recycling industry perspective, we would like to see the Chancellor announce an increase in landfill tax and indeed a commitment to a longer term strategy on landfill tax levels, in order to create some stability in the industry and confidence among investors.

“We certainly believe that landfill tax should increase at least in line with inflation and the formula should be fixed until, say, 2020 in order to provide confidence and certainty to potential investors in recycling and reprocessing infrastructure.

“Additionally, we are reiterating our call for PRN reform which creates a more level playing field for UK recyclers. The current system encourages exports of precious waste resource rather than supporting the domestic market.

“We are also supportive of any announcement by the Chancellor to review business rates to make businesses more competitive. However, funding remains an issue for many small- to medium-sized businesses and we are calling on the Government to continue to push the banks to lend more. As a business we have big expansion plans – indeed we’ve just completed a £12 million investment in new recycling infrastructure at our plastic bottle recycling facility. But as many businesses like ours are finding, bank funding is not readily available as is needed to drive the UK economy forward.”