Understanding the Policy Options for Implementing a Scottish Specific Landfill Tax Final Report for the Scottish Government
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Understanding the Policy Options for Implementing a Scottish Specific Landfill Tax Final Report for the Scottish Government Authors: Dominic Hogg Tim Elliott Ann Ballinger Maxine von Eye Thomas Vergunst 18/05/2011 Report for: Sandra Dandie: The Scottish Government Prepared by: Tim Elliott Maxine von Eye Ann Ballinger Thomas Vergunst Approved by: …………………………………………………. (Project Director) Contact Details Eunomia Research & Consulting Ltd 37 Queen Square Bristol BS1 4QS United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0)117 917 2250 Fax: +44 (0)8717 142942 Web: www.eunomia.co.uk Acknowledgements Our thanks to all the members of the steering group and those involved in the stakeholder interviews. Disclaimer Eunomia Research & Consulting has taken due care in the preparation of this report to ensure that all facts and analysis presented are as accurate as possible within the scope of the project. However no guarantee is provided in respect of the information presented, and Eunomia Research & Consulting is not responsible for decisions or actions taken on the basis of the content of this report. Final Report EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Eunomia Research & Consulting is pleased to present this Final Report to the Scottish Government on the potential options for varying the landfill tax. This is an option which is likely to be available to Scotland once the relevant powers have been devolved, expected to be in 2014/15. The stimulus of this study comes from the following recommendation by the Calman Commission: 1 “Stamp Duty Land Tax, Aggregates Levy, Landfill Tax and Air Passenger Duty should be devolved to the Scottish Parliament, again with a corresponding reduction in the block grant.” The Coalition Government of 2010 committed to implementing these recommendations, including the transfer of legislative responsibility to Scotland to set the level of Landfill Tax along with some other fiscal instruments.2 The Scottish Government now has the ability to set the level of landfill tax from 2014/15 (the end of the period of application of the current UK landfill tax escalator).3,4 No decision has been made regarding changes to the levels, or structure, of the landfill tax as yet. The aim of this project is to consider options for varying the landfill tax with respect to the rest of the UK, and to consider the impact this would have on waste policy, and Scotland’s goal of achieving a Zero Waste Society. The definition of a Zero Waste Society is summarised below:5 “everything we use and throw away is a resource which has a value, a value that we should try to preserve, capture, and use again wherever possible. That is what a zero waste Scotland means - not a country where we never throw anything away, but a new approach to making the most effective use of all resources, and avoiding wasting resources or making them unusable wherever we can.” Richard Lochhead, MSP - Cabinet Secretary This piece of research aims to inform decision making regarding the landfill tax. It also aims to be a progressive piece of economic research in the field of waste management. As far as the authors are aware, part of the approach used in this study, to model the impacts of changes in a landfill tax, has not been used before, neither in the UK, nor anywhere else in the world. 1 Commission on Scottish Devolution (2009) Serving Scotland Better: Scotland and the UK in the 21st Century, Final Report, June 2009, http://www.commissiononscottishdevolution.org.uk/uploads/2009-06-12-csd-final- report-2009fbookmarked.pdf 2 Scottish Government (2010) Research Specification: Understanding The Policy Options For Implementing A Scottish Specific Landfill Tax, Tender Ref: CR/2010/04 3 Scottish Government. 4 HM Treasury (2010) Budget 2010, http://cdn.hm-treasury.gov.uk/junebudget_complete.pdf 5 Scottish Government (2010) Scotland’s Zero Waste Plan: Ministerial Forward, Accessed 16th July 2010, http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2010/06/08092645/1 Final Report i E.1.0 Approach The overarching aim of the project that was given in the tender specifications is: “To be able to understand and establish the current impact of the landfill tax on the UK and disaggregated to devolved countries and the impact of designing and implementing a Scottish specific landfill tax”. In doing this it would enable the Scottish Government to: “advise Ministers on options for varying Landfill Tax with respect to the rest of the UK, and the impact this variation will have on: The proportion of waste going to landfill; Recycling rates; Certainty to investors – business and waste industry; Cross border movements of waste; LA waste management services and contracts including costs”. The specification also stated that certain tasks were to be undertaken, such as a literature review and the development of a Scotland specific landfill model. These requirements shaped the general approach to the research. A summary of the tasks undertaken to deliver the objectives of the study is given in Figure E 1-1. 18/05/2011 ii Figure E 1-1: Project Methodology Flow Diagram Research the environmental justification for landfill taxation E V I Research the environmental benefits of landfill taxation D E N Describe the full range of tax C mechanisms in place internationally E B Consult with stakeholders on landfill A taxation policy S E Review approaches taken to model the impacts of landfill taxes A Use evidence base to develop and S agree policy options to be assessed S E S Quantitative modelling and qualitative assessment S M E Reporting the results and N conclusions T Final Report iii E.2.0 Summary Findings of the Study This study has approached the issue of understanding landfill taxes for a variety of angles. The initial review of evidence included a number of different approaches, including a literature review, stakeholder interviews, investigation of the approaches taken in other countries to ex ante or ex post evaluation of such taxes and exploration of modelling approaches already used in the UK. The work then progressed to develop policy options for further investigation, and based the analysis of these on a combination of quantitative modelling and qualitative assessment. The key findings of the study are presented below. E.2.1 Review of Literature and Other Country Experience The following points summarise the findings from the literature review: Many countries within the European Union have utilised landfill taxes since around the mid-1980s; The rationale of most landfill taxes was to stimulate waste minimisation and reuse/recycling. This is realised by increasing the cost of landfilling, and thus making alternative management methods more cost competitive, and waste prevention more financially rewarding. In addition some countries specifically seek to raise revenue, or internalise the externalities of landfilling; The revenue can be used for a number of purposes, including being directed to the national budget, funding environmental projects and supporting waste management activities; Most landfill taxes covers all waste streams, rates are often split between active and inert wastes, and in many cases, the rates have increased significantly over time; Most countries exempt some materials from the tax when they are landfilled; With the UK landfill tax at £80 per tonne, however, it will be one of the highest rates in Europe. Only the Netherlands has a comparable level of tax (which is used to support a policy banning many waste streams from landfill); Spain, Belgium and Italy each have regional variations in landfill tax policy; In Belgium and Italy, there are mechanisms in place to effectively apply a form of border tax adjustment between regions when waste is moved from one region to be landfilled in another. The details of these mechanisms have, however, been difficult to obtain; Many countries with higher landfill taxes include supporting policies to help drive whatever behaviour is required by the national waste management plans. These include policies directed at increasing recycling, and measures to ensure residual waste does not simply switch from landfill to incineration. In some countries, however, where recycling policies have not been so strong, landfill taxes have, alongside landfill bans, had the effect of shifting residual waste from landfill to other treatment routes (typically, incineration); In terms of the link between landfill taxes and landfill bans, some countries have noted the need to have higher taxes to dissuade companies from having repeated recourse to exemptions from a ban (which may be necessary in some contexts). In Austria, where a ban on landfilling biodegradable wastes was implemented, this was 18/05/2011 iv incentivised through offering a lower rate of tax for wastes that had been pre-treated such that their tendency to generate methane when landfilled was significantly reduced; There is a complete dearth of ex ante analyses of landfill taxes in other countries as far as we could discern. Most countries appear to have taken a much more pragmatic approach to the design of their landfill tax, and we could find no country where there was some officially sanctioned model of the workings of a landfill tax (which does not mean to say that this does not exist); and Finally, there is a tendency, which appears to be gathering pace, for countries to establish taxes on other waste treatments too, notably incineration. Several countries – Denmark, Austria, Belgium, Sweden and Catalunya among them – have ‘waste taxes’ which cover incineration as well as landfill, albeit that the tax rates for incineration are generally much lower than for landfill. E.2.2 Stakeholder Perspectives A range of stakeholders within Scotland were consulted regarding their experiences with the tax, how it was currently working, and for their views on whether or not the tax should be changed (and if so, how). Some observations drawn from these consultations are offered below: It was generally felt that the administration and regulation of the existing tax mechanism was good; The current and proposed structure and levels of the tax were considered ‘about right’ and it was generally accepted that the tax was a key driver in changing waste management behaviour.