Pay as you throw rubbish collection system is just plain daft

Local governments are looking at reducing our Council Tax bills but then charging you per black bin bag that is thrown away. A Local Government Association survey recently said that nearly two thirds of those interviewed supported this. My problem is how they will police this?

There is the danger that people would try to side-step the system by burning their rubbish and fly-tipping. How easy would it be to open your neighbours bin and put your bags in there after removing all incriminating evidence of course! Would we all have to lock our bin lids to prevent this? This would mean councils replacing the existing bins with lockable bins unless they can add a lock to the existing ones which I doubt they can.

With bonfire night around the corner peoples household rubbish could be the new scrap wood, not only is it fuel but it would save you money as well under this new proposal, or are the councils going to hire bonfire inspectors to check on the contents of the bonfire to check that you are not burning waste and hence potential revenue for the council?

I really cant see it working – how much are they going to reduce our council tax bill by? I see a scenario like this – the council reduces your tax bill by say £10 a month if you recycle more. They then increase your council tax bill by a minimum of 5% per year in most places but then have to hire more workers and vans to ensure that everyone has access to a good roadside recycling service with a weekly food waste collection. This of course costs money so mmmmm we are putting bills up by 5% which adds up to more than £10 per month I don’t seem to be better off financially yet they told me I would be and yet I am doing more work some people will say. Is this just selfish?

To look at the bigger picture - The UK produces more waste per head of population than many of its European counterparts and has one of the worst recycling rates.

There are three potential schemes for cutting the amount of waste going into landfill:

1)a sack-based system in which householders buy different sized pre-paid sacks for general household waste – my question is do we buy these with our weekly shopping and how much are they going to cost? Surely this would mean paying up front for waste? We have a high enough shopping bill as at is!

2)A weight-based system is also suggested where wheelie bins are fitted with chips to allow the bins to be weighed when they are loaded on to the vehicle; this would be mean expensive modifications to bins and vehicles and more labour time for the dustbin men. Surely people would then just take heavy waste to the tip and put the lighter, smaller items in the bin?

3)The final idea is a volume-based system in which households choose from a range of wheelie bin sizes, and are charged accordingly. I can just imagine my little old neighbour who might produce a lot of rubbish dragging a huge bin up and down the garden path.

Saying this - similar schemes elsewhere in Europe had allegedly been successful, leading to much higher recycling rates.

I am a strong supporter as many of you are to schemes that reward people for recycling as this is the way forward to get the average joe recycling more. What we are all against is extra taxes disguised as helping the environment such as congestion charges to name just one!

Davinos Greeno works for the green companies and fairtrade shopping directory that lists 100s of Organic and Ethical Companies