urbanglasgow.co.uk

james73

City needs to cut landfill... or pay £14m

GLASGOW is facing taxes of £14million within three years unless landfill
waste is cut back.

The council's own annual corporate risk management report warns there
could a significant hole in funding because of rising landfill taxes imposed by
the UK government to force local authorities to go green.

It says the risk of that happening is now 90% and brands the impact on
finances as "catastrophic."

Each year, Glaswegians send an average of half a tonne of rubbish into
landfills, totalling about 250,000 tonnes annually.

But landfill taxes of £24 per tonne recently rose to £32 and there will be
further £8 hikes each year until 2010-2011 where the council will have to
find £56 for each tonne of waste.

If the amount of waste remains unchanged, that will cost taxpayers £14m.

The most recent council budget had to find an extra £2m to make up for
the extra penalty charges.

Green councillor Kieran Wild said the city must invest in recycling and not
simply burn rubbish to avoid shelling out landfill tax.

He said: "Incineration is no solution - that's just burning the problem. Doing
that in an urban area like Glasgow would just add to pollution. They need
to invest in recycling and more public campaigns to increase recycling."

Mr Wild said the city should be aiming towards a zero-waste strategy, but
even reducing landfill rubbish by half is achievable.

And he called on the council to spend £2m on increasing recycling to help
minimise further government penalties.

James H
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Happiness ain't at the end of the road - Happiness *IS* the road...