Environment: Green tax prompts sharp increase in fly-tipping

A green tax designed to reduce waste dumping has caused an increase in fly-tipping, according to a survey published today.

Three-quarters of local authorities have reported an increase in the illegal practice since the introduction of the landfill tax last October.

The disposal of waste at landfill sites was taxed at up to pounds 7 per tonne under the measures and was intended to encourage less rubbish being produced. It was also aimed at encouraging recycling and has raised pounds 111m in its first three months.

But in the commercial sector, only one third of waste producers were reducing the amount of taxable waste they produced.

Roger Wood, of Coopers & Lybrand, who carried out the survey, said: "In this double Budget year, the Chancellor has a golden opportunity to make landfill tax a more effective eco-tax than it appears to be at present, with or without raising the rates."