Wales landfill tax rates for 2026 set from 1 April
From 1 April 2026, Wales will apply new Landfill Disposals Tax (LDT) rates: £130.75 per tonne at the standard rate, £8.65 at the lower rate, and £196.15 for unauthorised disposals. The regulations were made on 5 December 2025 and laid before the Senedd on 9 December, with approval scheduled for 20 January 2026.
If you’re new to this, LDT is Wales’s own tax on waste sent to landfill. It replaced UK Landfill Tax in Wales in April 2018, is charged by weight and has three bands: a lower rate for qualifying materials, a standard rate for everything else, and a higher rate for unauthorised disposals to deter illegal dumping.
Because this is a change to tax rates, the rules use what’s known as a “made affirmative” process: the regulations take effect when made but must be approved by the Senedd within 28 days, ignoring long recesses, or they lapse. Ministers have earmarked 20 January 2026 for the vote.
Until 31 March 2026, the current 2025–26 rates continue: £126.15 (standard), £6.30 (lower) and £189.25 (unauthorised). That means the new figures start the following day. If you’re teaching timelines or running a budgets unit, this is a neat, date‑driven example of how devolved taxes switch over.
What’s actually changing? Compared with 2025–26, the standard rate rises by £4.60 per tonne (about 3.6%), the lower rate by £2.35 (about 37%), and the unauthorised rate by £6.90 (about 3.6%). The unauthorised rate stays at 150% of the standard rate to keep a strong deterrent against illegal dumping.
Let’s turn this into a quick classroom calculation. If a council landfills 10,000 tonnes at the standard rate in 2026–27, LDT would be £1,307,500. At 2025–26 rates, it would have been £1,261,500 - a difference of £46,000. Shift 500 tonnes of suitable material from standard to lower rate and you’d save roughly £61,050 that year.
For those working with waste contracts, plan around the disposal date. Budgets for 2026–27 should reflect the April changeover and the bigger jump at the lower rate. If you’re modelling behaviour change, the lower rate gap shows how governments use price signals to nudge more sorting and better use of qualifying materials.
Why do ministers say this matters? The written statement explains the rates are set with Welsh tax principles in mind and with the aim of reducing landfill in Wales - a useful prompt for class debates on how taxes guide behaviour and fund public services.
A final note on unauthorised disposals: liability can extend beyond the person who tipped the waste. Under Welsh Revenue Authority guidance, landowners or vehicle controllers can be caught if they did not take reasonable steps to prevent or address dumping. That’s why the unauthorised rate is steep.