The levy is set to come into force in April, and came about following an Environmental Agency (EA) consultation which ran until January
The Mineral Products Association (MPA) has called the EA’s new waste crime levy “illogical and unjust.”
The new regulation will bring in a 10% levy on permit fees for compliant firms regulated by the EA, in an effort to tackle ‘rogue operators.’
The MPA says a waste crime levy is punishing the innocent
Many UK mineral operators as part of the MPA point towards their high standards when it comes to the environment, including recycling waste to use as aggregate, and maintaining a circular economy, and even restoring 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.”
The MPA has spoken out about other legislation
Last month, the MPA spoke out against the rise in planning application fees, stating that the rise will not have the desired outcome of increasing the budget for local authorities.
They offered an alternative that they believe will achieve better results in ring-fencing the funds to boost investment and provide funds for improving planning departments.
Planning application fees are due to rise in April, and will rise as per the following:
- Prior approval applications that don’t involve building operations – increase from £120 to £240
- Prior approval applications that involve building operations – increase from £258 to £516
- Prior approvals relating to the change of use of Class E uses to residential uses – increase from £125 to £250
- Householder applications will be £86
- Non-major developments will be £586
- Major developments will be £2,000
- Application for approval of details reserved by condition will increase from £43 to £86 for householders, and from £145 to £298 for any other development
- Base payment for applications over 50 dwellings from £30,860 to £31,3856
- Base payment for agricultural development between 1,000-4,215sqm increasing from £624 to £5,077
- Submission fee for the Biodiversity Gain Plan increasing from £145 to £298
