International Review of Waste Management Policy - Department of ...

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29/09/09
approval. The current difficulties in the financing markets are also delaying
large deals. Some projects have, however, been funded by contractors out of
existing financial resources giving the prospect of faster deal closure. After
contract award, delays have occurred because some projects have
encountered difficulty in obtaining planning permission. 1026
55.8 Social and Distributional Consequences
There are no obvious consequences of this nature other than those which would flow
from Landfill Directive implementation. To the extent that authorities have had to
make allowance purchases thus far, these have been at low prices, implying costs per
annum of the order €1 per household per annum, and less, thus far.
55.9 Complementary Policies
The landfill tax has operated alongside the LASs. However, local authorities might
argue that the tax does not operate as a ‘complementary’ policy, but rather, that it
overlaps.
Recycling targets have been broadly complementary to the LASs to the extent that
where recycling increases, frequently, some or all of the additional material targeted
for collection is biodegradable (paper, card, food waste, garden waste, textiles, etc.).
Regulations have also been passed to enable assessment of the loss in
biodegradability achieved by biological treatment plants.
55.10 Effect of the Policy on Pricing of Resources / Services
The LASs have an effect on the infra-marginal tonnages of biodegradable waste which
is to be landfilled (i.e. the tonnages above the amount for which allowances are held).
The effect is to increase the costs of landfilling these infra-marginal tonnes. However,
the increase in cost is determined by the demand for allowances where allowances
are tradable (as in England), and by the level of fines where trading is prohibited (as,
for example, in Wales).
The effect of this on the behaviour of local authorities has been significant. Indeed,
although it was widely anticipated (since 1999) that a scheme such as the LASs
would be introduced, many local authorities’ waste officers found it difficult to make
the case for investing in new services and infrastructure to meet their obligations until
it became clear that a sanction, in the form of fines, would be applied in the event of
failure to discharge obligations under the scheme. This enabled waste officers to
make the case to finance officers and Chief Executives of their local authority along
the lines that failure to improve services could trigger significant financial penalties.
The magnitude of the fines - £150 per tonne of biodegradable waste landfilled for
which no allowance is held (and £200 per tonne in Wales) – is highly significant in the
1026 NAO (2009) Managing the PFI Waste Programme, Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General,
HC 66 Session 2008-2009, 14 January 2009.