Landfill Tax Increases – A Brake on Development

The landscape of waste management in the UK is shifting, with the government increasing landfill taxes as part of its ongoing effort to reduce landfill waste and encourage more sustainable waste disposal practices. In a significant change for the invasive species industry, increases in landfill tax costs come into force on 1^st April 2025 – rising by over 20% per tonne for higher-rate landfill tax.

The UK government has progressively raised landfill taxes with the intention of reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill and to encourage recycling, repair and re-use. Unfortunately, although well-intentioned, these policies have adverse effects, too, including an increase in industrial fly-tipping, often carried out by criminal gangs. Valid concerns have also been raise about poor rates of recycling and UK plastic “recycling” incinerated and shipped off-shore.

For development sites with Japanese knotweed and other invasive species, mechanical excavation and removal to licensed landfill is often the only viable solution. This approach significantly reduces pesticide use (another government goal) and will only be in higher demand as the construction and civil engineering industry ramps up to meet Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ ambitious plans for housebuilding and other UK development.

Landfill tax increases will therefore significantly impact business – not just invasive species specialists like Japanese Knotweed Solutions, but any business which uses landfill – including asbestos disposal and other hazardous waste management specialists. Because these costs apply across the board, they will drive up prices for our clients – including housebuilders, civil engineering firms and other developers, causing a meaningful drag on the development and growth that the UK government is so keen to promote.

This increase also carries real risks, with less-well-regulated areas of industry and squeezed small businesses – already struggling with reduced sales because of the cost of living crisis and increased costs due to inflation – driven to look for economies wherever they can find them, and increasingly tempted by “off-the-books” tipping sites,

This is likely to mean further increases in illegal fly tipping, health risks from illegally-dumped asbestos and other hazardous materials, and projects shelved or carried out inadequately due to increased costs. While it’s easy for businesses to moan about the tax burden, it’s important for government to invest these increased tax receipts into enforcement and action to prevent people from circumventing the law that upstanding businesses follow and support.

So, what can Japanese Knotweed Solutions do to help you to keep your costs down? Well, we can’t avoid the direct tax increases but there are several ways we can help to keep your waste management costs to a minimum.

• Prevention is better than cure! Don’t let invasive species get a hold of your land. Be pro-active get minor incursions of Invasives recorded and dealt with. Be aware of neighbouring properties that might have plant groups along their boundary that could cause you issues.
• Most obviously, act before April 1^st, when the landfill tax changes take place in order to take advantage of more favourable costs now!
• Find more efficient ways of managing waste. Japanese Knotweed Solutions’ survey reports will include all available options, including both on-site burial and waste management areas (which completely avoid any landfill tax), and also screening (which can reduce the volumes of material sent to landfill). We also offer longer-term treatment programmes for clients looking to manage invasive species at reduced cost.
• We maintain strong relationships with waste management facilities and hauliers to ensure we get the best possible prices and ensure compliance. By working together directly, we are able to negotiate better disposal rates.
• Japanese Knotweed Solutions ensure your waste is being disposed under the correct waste category by carrying out soils testing as well as on-site monitoring as required, ensuring compliance with all relevant legislation.
• We continue to explore and source more sustainable waste management practices and specialist treatment facilities where possible, including our proprietary MeshTech and the innovative RootsReset method.
• Most importantly: act fast! As well as beating the rises if your project is completed before April 1^st, the sooner you remove invasive species, the lower the cost will be. Carry out removal before spring if you can. Each year, as Japanese knotweed grows, it produces a large volume of plant material – growing up to 20cm a day during spring time and spreading underground. Where giant hogweed is present, active growth has significant health and safety implications and can increase costs due to the additional safety control measures required.

The increases in landfill tax bring home how important it is to ensure you use an established and professional Japanese knotweed contractor when it comes to removing Japanese knotweed materials from site.

There is absolutely no doubt that after April 1^st we will see an even greater increase in illegal fly tipping and unprofessional contractors incorrectly categorising waste at the lower rate – the implications of which will be much more costly than compliance – and which are not limited to unscrupulous contractors – clients have a legal responsibility to ensure that waste they generate is disposed of correctly under law.