Householders face £70 waste tax bill over Next Three Years

Householders could end up paying an extra £70 into Whitehall coffers over the next three years unless the government fulfils its promise to give money raised through landfill tax back to councils, local government leaders have warned.

The LGA says that council taxpayers will be hit with a £1.5bn bill up to 2011 if cash raised through the tax is not ploughed back into refuse and recycling facilities.

Councils must currently pay £32 for every tonne of rubbish that is sent to landfill with that figure set to rise to £48 a tonne by 2010.

When the government announced in 2003 that it was increasing the rate from £14 per tonne, it pledged further increases would be "revenue neutral" to local government. However ministers have yet to clearly demonstrate how this money is being given back to councils.

In addition to landfill tax, councils are facing EU fines of £150 per tonne of rubbish that is dumped. The LGA estimates that fines will total £200m by 2013.