01 November 2004

DoE extend Landfill Tax Credit Scheme

The DoE Environment and Heritage Service has today announced a further extension, up to a maximum of £1 million for waste management, to the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme (LTCS).

A spokesperson for the Environment and Heritage Service said that the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme Interim Replacement Fund (IRF), has been extended following consultations with a range of stakeholders in the voluntary and community sector of the Northern Ireland waste industry.

The Fund will provide a maximum of £1 million for the financial year 2004/5, and can help the not-for-profit sector in the waste management arena here. The spokesperson added: "It is intended primarily, that the IRF (Extension) will support community and voluntary sector organisations in undertaking projects that will contribute to the Northern Ireland Waste Management Strategy."

The Community Waste Innovation Fund will replace this Interim Fund in Spring 2005.

Introduced in 1996, the LTCS encouraged environmentally sensitive waste management policies, enabling Landfill Operators to divert a proportion of their Landfill Tax liability to environmental projects in the surrounding area.

The reform of the LTCS was announced in the November 2002 Pre-Budget Report and withdrew waste management projects from the scope of LTCS from April 2003.

Environment and Heritage Service initially established and managed the IRF to provide continuity of funding for a further year, for existing registered projects from April 2003 to March 2004.

(SP)