£90m Landfill Tax pays for green business support

Organisations supporting efforts to cut down on waste are set to receive grants worth almost £100 million from funds generated through the landfill tax.


Ben Bradshaw, Minister for Local Environmental Quality Services, announced the latest wave of grants under Defra’s Business Resource Efficiency and Waste programme this week.

The package, the second year’s worth of funding under the programme, will see an additional £95 million invested in organisations that can help businesses cut waste, shift waste from landfill and improve their efficiency.

The money will fund a range of free services and targeted support for businesses of all sizes and sector: from large quoted companies to smaller enterprises.

“Waste is about more than recycling – it links into the big issues about how much this country is producing and consuming,” said Bradshaw.

“Although we all want to continue to enjoy the benefits of a modern society, the impacts of our everyday consumption patterns on the environment remain severe. The inefficient use of resources can also affect business competitiveness – including small businesses.

“Many businesses simply do not realise that they can expect to save around 5% of their turnover by cutting waste, often with little or no investment.

“Add on top of that savings through improved resource efficiency, whether that be water use, energy use or the use of virgin materials, then we are talking about a substantial amount of money out there to be saved.

“The Landfill Tax therefore shouldn’t be seen as a burden, but as an opportunity for businesses to really get to grips with some of their key environmental impacts while providing a welcome boost to profits.”

The cash is to be shared between 11 organisations in the next financial year.

  • The Carbon Trust will receive £25m to help organisations respond to climate change and cut their emissions.

  • Envirowise will be given £19m to help businesses cut waste, water and energy use and to run waste efficiency clubs.

  • Regional Development Agencies have been awarded nearly £12m to fund co-coordinating BREW work and funding extra regional initiatives.

  • The Waste and Resources Action Programme will be getting over £9m for a range of projects including an SME waste collection pilots, market development for business wastes, capital support for recycling infrastructure and business development in the recycling sector.

  • DTI will receive £8m to fund research and development

    of commercial and industrial waste issues.

  • The National Industrial Symbiosis Programme is to receive £6m to help businesses find value in wastes they normally sent to landfill.

  • The Environment Agency will be given over £4m to tackle waste crime and improve the small business environmental legislation portal NetRegs

  • The Market Transformation Programme will receive £3.3m to fund further work to address product design and relating environmental impacts

  • Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts will receive £2m to administer a fund for community groups who have special expertise in helping businesses to become more resource efficient.

  • The Strategic Supply Chain Group will receive £237,000 to promote sustainable procurement through supply chains.

    A further £2.1m will be invested into improving the quality of data on waste as part of a Defra initiative.

    During the current financial year the BREW programme allocated £43m to business support.

    The large increase in funding available next year is partly down to the fact the rate of Landfill Tax is set to increase by a minimum of £3 per year until ait reaches £35 per tonne. It is currently at £18 per tonne.

    By Sam Bond

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