DAVID MILIBAND, the environment secretary, faces an European Union investigation over allegations his department is using misleading figures to show councils are sending less rubbish to landfill.

It is claimed the government is allowing councils to exploit a loophole which means that rubbish can be dumped “off the books” using the private sector. The allegations come after a Sunday Times investigation last week exposed how materials for recycling were being sent to landfill.

While Britain is referred to as the “dustbin of Europe” because of the amount of waste it buries, it has now introduced a scheme to force councils to recycle more rubbish. Under the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme the councils must hit targets to landfill less waste or face hefty fines.

It emerged last week that the scheme is seriously flawed because waste collected by the private sector is not usually included in the scheme. It means councils can legitimately raise their prices for collecting commercial waste in the knowledge the private sector will step in and landfill the rubbish for them “off the books”.

Jon Duffy, director of environment for the Greater London Authority (GLA), said: “It doesn’t matter whether the waste is handled by a council or a private company, it can still go into landfill. It doesn’t make sense that some of these figures aren’t included.”

The GLA, which is lobbying for a greater role in handling London’s fragmented waste system, has complained to the European commission. A spokesperson told The Sunday Times last week that household and office waste should be counted in the targets to curb landfill, irrespective of who was dumping it.

The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said it had no evidence that councils were pricing themselves out of the market for collecting trade waste. It said the Environment Agency monitored the total amount of waste going to landfill.

New evidence emerged last week of recycling material being sent to landfill. According to a report commissioned by the Waste and Resources Action Programme, which promotes recycling, up to 15% of material may be being dumped at sorting depots because of poor design and failures in staff training.

Times Recommends

• What makes the perfect mum?
• To keep me stress-free, no more awareness days, please
• What do lottery winners buy?