We feel that everything possible needs to be done to encourage the diversion of waste from landfill. However, some problems are occurring as a result of the way in which the landfill tax works. In the Red Book, the increase in landfill tax is described as “supporting recycling”. I should like to dwell for a couple of minutes on how my local authorities are able to deal with the issue and the types of pressure that landfill tax puts on them.

Cornwall, like many other areas, has a two-tier authority. We have one authority responsible for collecting waste and another responsible for disposal. It is therefore difficult to transfer the pressures on—to divert waste completely from the principal authority. That creates great difficulties, as there are no direct incentives for recycling. The pressure seems to be towards anything that is a diversion from landfill. That can lock people into more environmentally unfriendly ways of dealing with their waste.