EA’s new waste crime levy ‘illogical and unjust’, says MPA
Mineral Products Association criticises Environment Agency’s plan to impose 10% levy on compliant firms
THE Environment Agency’s decision to fund its efforts to combat waste crime by charging businesses that play by the rules has been branded illogical and unjust by aggregate producers.The Mineral Products Association (MPA) – representing companies who legitimately recycle and reuse millions of tonnes of demolition and construction waste to produce recycled aggregate as part of the circular economy or to restore former quarry sites – has criticised the EA’s plan to impose a 10% levy on compliant firms’ waste permit fees to help tackle rogue operators.
Following a consultation which ran until late January, the levy is set to come into force on sites in England regulated by the EA from April 2025, at a time when regulatory fees paid by legitimate businesses have already reached an all-time high.
The decision to impose extra costs on waste permits has frustrated the UK’s mineral operators who are recognized worldwide as operating to very high environmental standards – whether recycling waste into aggregate as part of a circular economy or putting it to good use to restore former quarry sites.
MPA executive director Mark Russell said: ‘This decision is illogical and unjust. It flies in the face of the Government’s drive to kickstart economic growth, and it will discourage investment in the circular economy. Why should businesses that operate to high environmental standards – yet are facing deteriorating quality of service from the regulator – pay even more to fund unrelated crime-fighting?
‘We strongly back initiatives to tackle waste crime and address the environmental harm it causes. However, this is yet another example of the burden being put on reputable operators, despite the Chancellor calling on businesses to drive growth and ‘tear down regulatory barriers’.
‘Regulators often view increasing fees as the solution to their financial problems, when from our perspective such charges rarely deliver the desired improvements. But the waste crime levy takes things to a disturbing new level. Compliant businesses should not be treated as a ‘cash cow’ to raise additional income to support other activities.
‘Cumulative regulatory drag is real and is already harming the British economy. Yet we continue to see incremental changes that introduce additional cost, bureaucracy, time and effort, often with little meaningful effect, that simply increase the burden not just on legitimate operators but also on the regulators responsible for administering them.’
