MERSEYSIDE taxpayers will pay more than £3.4m to bury thousands of extra tonnes of waste in landfill sites, councillors agreed yesterday.

The region is set to break Government limits on burying rubbish and has had to buy more “credits” to avoid hefty fines.

At a meeting yesterday, Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority (MWDA) rubber-stamped the deal to buy more than 170,000 tonnes of credits from a consortium of North East councils, who will bury less than their allowances and can therefore sell the surplus amount.

But forecasts show that, even with the extra credits, the region could need another 130,000 tonnes of credits if it continues producing so much rubbish.

The credits, costing £20 per tonne, will be used over the next four years.

But the move was last night branded a “fool’s economy” by a leading councillor who says the money should be spent on increasing recycling rates.

Cllr Paul Twigger, Liverpool City Council’s executive member for environment and an MWDA board member, said the decision sent out the wrong message at the start of Liverpool’s Year of the Environment.

He said: “We shouldn’t be purchasing landfill credits. We should be using the money to develop new technologies and increase recycling across the five boroughs.

“I just think it’s a fool’s economy. That money would be better invested elsewhere. We shouldn’t be burying things, full stop. We should be looking to the future and investing it as an authority.

“Liverpool is leading the way with its Year of the Environment, saying we should recycle more and shouldn’t be sending things to landfill. It’s really disappointing the Waste Disposal Authority isn’t following our lead.”

Cllr Twigger, who couldn’t attend the meeting, added: “I certainly would have voted against it.”

During the next financial year, the authority has a 310,000-tonne allowance to bury waste in landfill sites.

But internal MWDA projections show it will exceed that by around 49,000 tonnes and would face £150-a-tonne fines from the Government if it does – at a cost of around £7.35m.