Councils planning to charge for how heavy our bins are

‘Pay as you throw’ plan sparks fly-tipping fears

A BID to charge householders ‘pay as you throw’ fees for the rubbish they put out has been branded ‘ridiculous’ by critics.

The controversial idea from council chiefs would see residents charged for the weight of the general waste they put out.

But there are fears it could lead to a rise in fly-tipping coupled with concerns about spying on people’s bin habits.

The regime would require the installation of electronic chips in tens of millions of black bins so collection lorries can recognise them.

The idea was set out in a policy paper by the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee. The group said the introduction of ‘pay as you throw’ systems in Ireland and other European countries had increased recycling rates. In fact, the Irish government has been forced to modify its approach in the face of public anger over the charges.

Schemes in Ireland vary, but a family can be charged as much as £309 a year for a waste allowance of up to 950kg with an extra 16.5p for every kilo over that limit. Currently in the UK, bin collection costs fall under council tax. Bills have gone up by an average of £81 this year – the steepest rise in 14 years. LARAC, which speaks for senior council waste officers, said the ‘pay as you throw’ charges could be kept down if manufacturers and supermarkets, which are responsible for excess packaging, were forced to pay much more to fund council rubbish services.

The idea was first put forward by Tony Blair’s Labour government more than a decade ago and councils were encouraged to run trials. Millions of bins were fitted with chips, often without the knowledge of householders. However, the scheme was dropped following a public backlash over what was seen as a new stealth tax. The campaigning group Big Brother Watch argues Britons will not accept council surveillance of their waste habits and the resulting charges.

Its director, Silkie Carlo, said: ‘This is a ridiculous, unworkable and intrusive idea that we blew out of the water a decade ago.

‘Charging struggling families for the weight of their rubbish is not the solution to our serious environmental problems.

‘Authorities monitoring your waste would reveal information about your households, your habits, when you’re at home and when you’re on holiday, while doing nothing to deal with the problem of over-packaging.

‘Local authorities really need to drop this ludicrous idea.’

LARAC argued the charging regime would boost recycling as people would make sure plastic, paper, glass and food are put in household recycling bins, which would not carry a charge, rather than general black bins.

The Government is consulting on reforms to how the UK pays for the collection, handling and recycling of waste. The LARAC policy document says rubbish collection should be split away from council tax.

The group states: ‘ LARAC believes a fundamental shift in funding is needed. It is time to look at how we decouple provision of waste services from being considered “what council tax pays for” and move it to something that producers and users are responsible for.’

Other ideas include a flat annual fee and charges related to the number of bags.

John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘You can guarantee that when bureaucrats cook up a scheme to charge residents for a service, they aren’t thinking about cutting their council tax to match. Hard-pressed families will resent paying extra for an army of bin snoopers telling people what to do.’

By contrast, LARAC’s proposals have the support of the Campaign to Protect Rural England. Its litter programme director, Samantha Harding, said: ‘Charging people to “pay as they throw” – when it’s a charge they can avoid by using proper recycling infrastructure – is probably the best way to revolutionise recycling levels.’

LARAC is opposing a widescale deposit and return scheme for all plastic drinks bottles and cans, which the Daily Mail has campaigned for.

Instead, the group wants a more limited scheme that will cover only small containers. It wants larger plastic bottles to continue to be collected by local councils because they make money by selling them on for recycling.

‘Ridiculous and intrusive’ ‘Army of bin snoopers’