DoE bids for land clean-up fund from landfill levy

The Government has taken its biggest step yet towards greening the tax system by announcing that a landfill levy will be introduced in 1996 and the revenues used to cut taxes on jobs. The Department of the Environment (DoE) has lost its battle to have the levy collected and spent by the Environment Agency, but is still hoping that it will come with incentives to the private sector to set up funds for contaminated land clean-up and recycling projects. Meanwhile, worries persist about the levy's impact on recycling and diversion of wastes to sub-standard landfills.