Tax hike boosts sales for Dig A Crusher
HMRC trommel fines landfill tax clampdown increases demand for Max X Tract density separators
THE Max X Tract density separator has been a part of the Dig A Crusher product line for a number years and has delivered steady but unremarkable sales. Last year, for example, the company sold a modest total of 11 Max X Tract units.
Although the machine’s use has been pioneered by some forward-thinking recycling companies keen to extract every scrap of value from their waste streams, the vast majority of firms were content to pay the £2.50 landfill tax imposed on the trommel waste fines the machine is designed to process.
However, all this changed two weeks ago on Friday 18 May 2012 when HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) announced that waste fines that had previously been covered by the lower £2.50 per tonne landfill tax rate would be charged at the full £64 per tonne rate with immediate effect.
‘This left waste-management, demolition and recycling companies staring down the barrel of a huge hike in their waste-disposal costs,’ commented Dig A Crusher’s managing director Sean Heron. ‘Overnight, we went from offering a very good, low-volume, niche machine to having the low-cost solution to a 2,500% increase in the disposal rate.’
Within 24 hours of the HMRC announcement, Dig A Crusher had received three confirmed orders for density separators, setting an upward trend which they say has continued since then.
Designed to segregate stone, lightweights, wood, and ferrous and non-ferrous materials from –100mm waste materials, the compact yet durable Max X Tract density separator is capable of processing up to 150 tonnes/hour and can be easily incorporated into existing waste-handling and extraction streams.
‘There has never been any question about the quality of the Max X Tract or its ability to turn trommel waste fines into an additional revenue generator, but HMRC’s decision has totally changed the recycling landscape,’ said Mr Heron. ‘Companies that dismissed the Max X Tract as impressive but unnecessary for their business are now urgently placing orders to avoid this huge disposal cost increase.’
