Councils plot ‘pay as you throw’ bin fees

HOUSEHOLDERS could be charged for the amount of rubbish they put in the bin under “pay as you throw” proposals that would see those who threw away the most paying bigger bills.

The idea has been put forward by the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC), which represents about two thirds of councils. The idea has been described as “ridiculous” by critics, who said that it could lead to a rise in fly-tipping and councils wasting resources spying on people.

LARAC said that “pay as you throw” charges could be minimised if manufacturers and supermarkets, which are responsible for packaging, were forced to pay more for refuse services.

Tony Blair floated the idea and millions of bins were fitted with chips, but the policy was abandoned.

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.”