With the increase of environmental issues in the UK the question needs to be asked, what is the true cost of commercial waste in the UK?
Commercial Waste Management Costs in the UK
Based on the details obtained from the government figures, about a fifth of all the waste in England is created by businesses. These businesses have to be incentivised by laws and fines to reduce pollution. Currently there is an increase in landfill tax, paid by any company creating landfill waste to 91.35 pounds per tonne. This price is only going to increase as the government is trying to get companies to recycle instead of participating in any type of waste disposal unless absolutely necessary. There are even gate fees paid by companies to local authorities to dispose of waste, priced at 20 pounds per tonne.
The Impacts on Small Businesses
Despite the benefits that come with the taxes on waste disposal being increased, there are also setbacks. These setbacks primarily affect small companies. A small business is estimated to pay a total of £384 pounds each year on waste disposal from companies like Enviro Skip Hire. This cost doesn’t include the price of waste energy, labor or other disposal costs. Consequently recycling has become a less expensive method of waste management than landfill disposal. But small companies simply do not have access to the same benefits larger companies have. There is no access to cost-effective recycling or residential recycling schemes run by councils.
In addition to simply not being big enough to join contracts with large recycling companies, small companies have to suffer through laws bigger companies can easily bypass. This issue became even more serious after the announcement made in 2018 of the government’s Resources and Waste Strategy. The strategy dictates that each business is solely responsible for the full cost of the disposal of any product it puts on the market. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) observed that the new rules being implemented means that manufacturers will have a 900% increase in the cost of disposal or recycling of packaging. Envirotech estimates that about 60% of all waste in the UK which land in the dustbin is recyclable. There is also management of how much resources are used in the production of goods. The more efficient the usage of resources the less waste there is to dispose of.
Essentially, the true cost of commercial waste disposal in the UK varies. The cost may be relatively manageable for large scale operations but for small entities it can be formidable and even in extreme cases insurmountable.
