British manufacturing has been hit by a "burden" of over £100 million since the controversial climate change levy was introduced, the Engineering Employers Federation (EEF) claimed today.

The EEF, which has urged the government to shelve the tax, has suggested that the government scales down the levy in favour of alternative plans to cut down on harmful CO2 emissions.

However, after opening a session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in London today, the deputy prime minister, John Prescott, claimed that a huge amount can be achieved "through cost effective measures and better technology".

Forum Response: Environmental Services Association

Dr Andrew Ainsworth, the senior policy executive at the Environmental Services Association, told ePolitix.com:

"Delivering greater levels environmental protection and resource efficiency is central to achieving a greater level of sustainability in society.ESA is the UK's sectoral trade association representing the managers of waste and secondary resources. The regulated industry represented by ESA amounts to about 0.5 per cent of GDP, contributing more than £4 billion annually to the UK's economy.

"Under the climate change levy, operators of certain industrial processes are eligible for a reduction in the levy in return for a commitment to reduce energy use at the facility based on a binding agreement with the secretary of state for the environment. Entry to an agreement is open to facilities that are listed in the Finance Act 2000, which includes activities regulated under Part 1 of Schedule 1 of the Pollution Prevention and Control (England and Wales Regulations 2000.

"Excluded from the list of eligible facilities are those such as recycling plants that are increasing sustainability and resource efficiency by returning materials back into the productive economy as secondary resources. Furthermore, they are also making a valuable contribution to delivering the government's Waste Strategy 2000 and the diversion targets of the Landfill Directive, both of which HMG has identified as contributing to a sustainablefuture.

"Earlier this year, ESA wrote to the Minister for the Environment, Michael Meacher asking him to consider an amendment to Schedule 6, paragraph 51 of the Finance Act 2000 to ensure that those facilities making a valuable contribution to sustainability are included in the list of facilities eligible for a reduction in the Climate Change Levy."