Yesterday, the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt MP presented his Budget to the House of Commons. It was clear from the outset this Budget was primarily a political show to attract voters ahead of a general election which is expected to take place later this year. As such the policies largely affected families and individuals, rather than business. The Budget even included implementing a Labour Party policy – abolishing the non-domiciled tax status  –  in order to make it difficult for Labour to make legitimate claims on being able generate additional UK revenue without different policies.
 
There were two policies, however, which will likely have an impact on BMRA members.
 
Policy 1 – Treasury announces landfill tax to increase 21.6% for 2025/26
The standard rate of disposing waste in landfill will increase to £126.15 from April 2025, up by £22.45 from 2024’s rate of £103.70. The lower rate of landfill tax for inert waste will also rise from £3.30 to £4.05.
 
As landfill operators are tasked with paying this tax, which they pass onto customers, the cost of disposing waste in landfill will go up across the next years.
 
Policy 2 – New tax on vapes
The Chancellor announced a new tax on vapes, as Government continues its crackdown on all forms of smoking.
 
Whilst this policy – which will take effect from October 2026 – has largely been implemented to do with the ill-health effects of vaping, BMRA was contacted proactively by Conservative MPs campaigning to ban vapes who were interested in vape recycling and briefed into policymakers the risks associated with recycling these devices.
 
Although the policy detail is not yet established, if the policy is similar to the additional levy paid on traditional cigarettes, we expect a single-use-vape to rise from an average £6, to well above £10.
 
Subsequently, BMRA is expecting this policy will have a positive impact on the number of single-use-vapes arriving on metals recycling yards in the next years.
 
Going forward
BMRA recognises that the new vape tax will have a limited impact on today’s volumes of single-use-vapes reaching metal recycling sites. As such, BMRA will continue – through its Fire Prevention Committee and fire workshops – to help members reduce the overall number of fires taking place and implement an effective process to tackle fires on site(s) when they do occur.

Following the success of its inaugural workshop on fighting fires in the scrap metal industry, BMRA is will hold a second workshop will be held on 30 April. Click here for more information.