UK government to phase out landfill tax exemption

The British government has announced that firms dealing with contaminated land will no longer be eligible for a tax waiver if they dispose of the soil at landfill sites.

Implemented in 1996, the waiver has been deemed as out-of-step with current environmental incentives and will be phased out by 2012, it has been announced.

Requesting that firms pay tax on any soil that they deliver to landfill sites will provide the incentive for them to have it cleaned first, it is hoped.

Those companies that have already made plans around the waiver will have until December 1st to apply for exemption certificates.

Angela Eagle, exchequer to the secretary and signer of the new regulations, said: "We believe the time is right to phase out this exemption."

In related landfill news, it was revealed last week by the British Environmental Agency that less waste was sent to landfill sites in 2007 then there was six years previously.