| Archive for urbanglasgow.co.uk For lovers of Urban Exploration of Glasgow, Scotland, UK |
| james73 |
City needs to cut landfill... or pay £14mCity needs to cut landfill... or pay £14mGLASGOW 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 |