UK councils' waste management spends revealed

The waste management spends of two UK councils - Worcestershire and Herefordshire - between April 2010 and the same month in 2011 have been revealed.

According to statistics obtained by BBC News, the former shelled out £8 million to cover its landfill tax during the period, while the latter parted with £2.4 million.

This represents a significant rise for Worcestershire County Council, as it only spent £4.7 million on the levy between 2005 and 2006. Herefordshire Council only paid £2.2 million in the same year.

Councillor Anthony Blagg of the Worcestershire authority suggested that despite the rise, the county has made "huge leaps forward" in developing recycling policies and reducing the amount of waste that goes to landfill sites.

"The cost of actually sending to landfill is more and there is a higher population in somewhere like Worcestershire so we throw more away," he told the news provider.

Last week, the EU threatened to sanction Finland if it did not take urgent action to set up sufficient waste management laws.

Posted by Lauren Steadman