The landfill tax is to nearly treble over the next decade from £13 to £35 a tonne.

Gordon Brown also said that £100 million a year from the landfill tax, paid by developers and local authorities for every tonne of waste dumped, would help local authorities meet their recycling targets.

Forum Response: The Woodland Trust

Dr James Cooper, public affairs manager of the Woodland Trust, told ePolitix.com: "There are some encouraging green moves in the statement and we welcome the publication of a specific paper on the use of economic instruments to protect the environment.

"As discussed in our chief executive Mike Townsend's interview with ePolitix.com, the pursuit of sustainable development requires the making of difficult choices and we hope that the government will not shirk from these in relation for example to the aviation industry, where current airport expansion plans pose a very serious threat to ancient woodland, a threat rendered worse by the news that Gatwick is now to be included in the current consultation on expansion.

"We are encouraged therefore by the promise of discussion with stakeholders on the use of economic instruments to ensure that the aviation industry takes more account of its impact on the environment."

Forum Response: Envirowise

A spokesman for Envirowise said: "Envirowise was pleased to see that the profile of waste as an environmental issue has been increased by the pre-Budget statement. Rather than being fiscally neutral, increasing landfill tax may lead to substantial cost savings for many companies."The true cost of waste is usually about ten times the disposal cost, giving large scope for cost reductions. Many companies have already reduced the amount of waste they generate and cut their costs by substantially more than their waste disposal costs. However, many companies have yet to get started, so this tax could help companies and the environment."We hope that some of the income from the tax can be recycled to help companies and the government estate reduce waste at source. The changes to the landfill tax credit Scheme are one way in which this might be achieved."

Forum Response: Environmental Services Association

Dirk Hazell, chief executive for ESA, told ePolitix.com: "A landfill tax of this level is necessary to make other forms of management-such as recycling-viable on a scale necessary for the UK to achieve compliance with EU law.

"We note the government's intention to consult on this proposal: our members want to invest £1 billion a year in new infrastructure to manage waste and the sooner the £35 level is attained, the sooner this investment can be forthcoming.

"While we do not yet know how the government proposes that the municipal waste stream will be funded-and we will comment on this as soon as details are available-we welcome the fact that, in line with our advice, this tax increase will be revenue neutral for British business."

Forum Response: Country Land and Business Association

Oliver Harwood, head of rural economy and policy adviser on energy crops for CLA, said: "Forget the Kyoto Protocol on reducing greenhouse gases, forget the boost to the agricultural industry. The chancellor has shown that he has accepted the principle of renewable fuels - but he has not been listening to the Industry's advice. There are no realistic prospects of developing a new green bioethanol industry on the basis proposed.

"British Sugar has agreed to invest £400 million in developing bioethanol on the basis of a duty reduction in the range of 26 to 30 pence. This would supply five per cent of the UK's fuel needs. The recent 20p reduction for biodiesel has not produced investment in biodiesel development from renewable crops. In British Sugar's words 'this is not enough to kick start an industry'.

"The CLA has been a leading player in promoting in the case for bioenergy in all its forms. We believes that given the right policy framework, the rural economy can play a significant role in the reduction of greenhouse gases and other adverse environmental impacts, and ensure we have a vibrant living and working countryside for generations to come."

Forum Response: Chartered Institute for Waste Management

Dr Jane Beasley, communications manager, said: "Whilst any increase in the landfill tax could be viewed as demonstrating positive support from the government, the reality is that a £3 per tonne escalator will do little to promote further diversion from landfill or provide sufficient funds for infrastructure development through the landfill tax credit scheme.

"We are disappointed and will proactively urge government on behalf of our members to review the level of escalator set, and promote the figure of £35 per tonne to be a short rather than medium-long term target."

Forum Response: Local Government Association

Cllr Kay Twitchen, chair of the LGA waste and environmental management executive, said: "The problem is local authorities have little control over how much waste is produced, and efforts to reduce that amount take time and money to implement. There is no point in taxing councils as a penalty for something that is beyond their control.

"Councils need the funding now to bring forward measures such as recycling, composting and new technologies, which take time to introduce. Unless the revenue from landfill tax is put back into the effort to reduce waste production local authorities will have even less money available to take the necessary action and the country will have less chance of meeting its international obligations to cut waste.

"There needs to be a massive public education programme to encourage households and others, such as the manufacturing and retail industry, to change their ways if household waste is to be significantly reduced."

Forum Response: Biffa

A spokesman for Biffa, said: "The Treasury commitment to realistic levels of landfill tax to drive sustainability has been five years in the making. Whilst this is not a total fudge, we are still stuck in the toffee of indecision and timidity as far as the timetable is concerned.

"Nevertheless, despite barracking from the CBI, the stage is set. What we really need is a proactive round-table process which engages all the departments of state, industry, local government and NGOs on agreed targets and mechanisms instead of confrontational tactics which seek to delay the inevitable.

"Redistributing landfill tax credits may create market distortions via subsidies for recovered materials and the concentration of those funds in single award 'panels', but in the long run they will disappear as the chancellor's extended timetable allows the tax to bite hard.

"Delegating charging abilities to local councils is neat and gets Brown off the charge of 'tax by the back door', but again we will probably see local distortions developing unless there is a central ringmaster.

"The Strategy Unit report is a clear steer on implementation of the waste strategy, which until today was more of a wish-list than a transparent plan of action, given the inability of DEFRA to manipulate the financial distortions which have left landfill as the only horse in town.

"It is a pity that the competent members of this team appear to have been reined in and told to restrict their attentions to municipal waste, which is a mere 20 per cent of the total controlled solid waste arising in the UK (using the government's own data).

"The reality is that long-term solutions will come on the basis of integrated thinking across domestic, industrial and commercial streams - a central point in our recent publication 'Future Perfect', which presents the BIFFA approach in more depth."

Forum Response: Countryside Alliance

Richard Burge, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, told ePolitix.com: "The chancellor's speech gave little for rural areas to focus on. At the core of the government's financial commitment to promoting a sustainable and prosperous countryside, we want to see the recommendations of the Curry Report funded in full - we will be watching closely on this issue.

"Further, we will await the deputy prime minister's Communities Plan with great interest. The Alliance has long been calling for positive and decisive action on the issue of affordable housing in rural areas.

"We want to see a reversal in the worrying trend of rural people being unable to afford to buy homes in their home areas. We are heartened that council tax on second homes is now no longer subject to discount, as has recently been announced, but we will be monitoring this situation closely - affordable housing must be readily available to rural people."

A spokesman for Defra told ePolitix.com: "The measures announced today should be seen against the background of this summer's spending review, which allocated significant additional resources to Defra of £500 million for investment in sustainable farming and food over the three year spending review period.

"The government will be publishing its Strategy for Sustainable Farming and Food before the end of the year. The spending review also set a new rural Public Service Agreement focussed on improving productivity in less well performing rural areas and improving accessibility to key services in rural areas.

"For the first time the pre-budget report includes a separate section on rural economies and communities which sets out what we are doing to deliver on these new targets."