By Tim Ferguson, 23 August 2007 16:04
NEWS
UK households could soon be throwing their rubbish into high tech wheelie bins if local authorities are given the go-ahead to charge for the amount of waste produced.
The proposal is one of a number of suggestions put forward by the Local Government Association (LGA) on how councils could run waste charging schemes if they get the green light from the government.
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The system could work by wheelie bins being fitted with microchips which would record the weight of waste when it is collected.
Using this information, local authorities could then charge households according to the weight of the rubbish they dispose of.
Households would receive a bill quarterly or annually for the non-recyclable waste thrown away. This system is already used in the UK to deal with trade waste.
Dutch local authority Sittard introduced the system in 2002 and the scheme has reduced the amount of general rubbish by 41 per cent and increased the amount of recyclable material by 23 per cent.
Sittard estimates this has resulted in savings of around €1.1m per year.
Other options put forward by the LGA include a volume-based system where the size of bin determines how much households are charged with fines for excess waste.
People could also be charged for frequency of collection or combinations of weight, volume and frequency, with fines for leaving out extra waste.
An LGA spokesman told silicon.com it is likely waste charging schemes won't appear until late 2008 or early 2009, as the government will need to pass the necessary legislation.
A recent LGA commissioned Ipsos MORI poll of more than 1,000 UK adults found 38 per cent 'strongly support' the idea of households being charged for the amount of rubbish they produce in return for reduced council tax rates.
Comments
There are 27 comments. Join the discussion
1. John Wilson
The only problem with the survey claiming support from 38% of the respondents is that they omit to mention that the other 62% probably aren't gullible enough to really believe that their council tax will drop noticeably! It drives me nuts when companies talk about "savings" as all they're really doing is charging the public more overall. Any form of recycling will always cost money, it would be better if we had some sincere honestly about the realities. One last thing, it's about time the authorities stopped picking on the easy targets (the public) and got serious about the big polluters (industry). Better to deal with the problems at source, rather than only persecute the end user.
2. Donald Davie
Am I a cynic or is this justy another opportunity to raise taxes even further. Why not give discounts to the existing council tax for reducing weight of household waste disposed of.
3. anonymous
Before any council is allowed to chargw for level of domestic waste they must firstly publish a taffif of cost against weight also including the rate of reduction in Council tax for the less waste.
4. Alan Smith
Will we have to lock our Wheelie bins to prevent neighbours dumping there waste in your Bin to save on costs?
This is not going to work
5. Allan Smith
"Dutch local authority Sittard introduced the system in 2002 and the scheme has reduced the amount of general rubbish by 41 per cent and increased the amount of recyclable material by 23 per cent."
One assumes the missing 18% of rubbish was fly tipped into the nearest local dyke... I can see some "enterprising" individuals adding "cheap" rubbish collection to go along with the dodgy "Tree pruning" activities...
6. Nick Cole
Why should the end user end up paying a third party tax collecting body merely because producers over whom we have no control insist on producing so much packaging?
This is another case of the usual British solution of 'a problem? -- then tax the consumer'.
Flawed surveys are no indicator of solution when there is such a variety of situations, rural/urban mix accessibility and so on.
The principle of charging is not entirely unreasonable, as found with many surveys on other environmentally emotional issues. But the practicality of making sure it is fairly and reasonably implemented mitigates against it as a solution. It may suit some people but for many others with no choice or alternatives it becomes a major burden.
7. Richard Arblaster
The problem I see with this is people like me that have a communal bin area with more than wheelie bin in it, you could end up paying for someone elses rubbish to be taken away because all the rubbish in your bin may not be yours.
I think they need to think again.
8. anonymous
People will just dump their waste anywhere then, to save paying for it.
The Councils might save on collection, but it will cost more in effort and the health implications to clean up after the fly tipping.
Ford help our country! Has everyone in charge gone mad?
9. James Pomeroy
Surely this would increase the amount of fly-tipping for residents to reduce their charges?
10. keith devanney
The technology is simple enough to adopt from the "bin wagon side" but as a consumer I'd want a receipt that proved what weight was taken away. I'd want a sliding scale of charges if I was shown to be reducing waste weight. You cannot just use the stick.
RFID tags are now very low cost, so for multi-occupancy bins, you would have to have "approved" bags which had your tag. These would have to be tamper proof to stop others putting their waste into your bag.
It has merits but needs a lot more though.
11. Lionel A Smith
Of course one answer to the very real problem of neighbours putting their rubbish into your bin, from cost avoidance or grudge, is to have high definition CCTV along every street and alley. This will help the authorities to move another step closer to the Orwellian State of which they dream.
12. MusicFan
Why should the end user be penalized for the production of non degradable waste due to the packaging they use.
Is it our fault that everything comes in a plastic package? Do we make that decision?
We wouldn’t have this environmental noose hanging above our heads if industry was forced to change their packaging policies.
How much pollution is created by the collection and re-cycling process? How much CO2 is chucked out by the collection wagons?
Our government is barking.
All this shows is that government really are not interested in saving our planet, its just the current scapegoat to warrant another taxation.
And we will just bend over and take it as per usual.
We need to develop a backbone and stand up for ourselves!
13. Chris Stevens
In the Great Wheelie Bin Revolt of 2008 thousands of people were on the street at night swapping wheelie bins at random from street to street and from house to house. Some culprits were caught and charged with being in possession of an unauthorised wheelie bin. The protesters spokesman said the charges were rubbish and that the local authorities case would be trashed in court.
Local Authorities later admitted that they had no way of tracking the bins back to the original houses. They refused to comment on the case of the pensioner sent to prison for refusing to have a wheelie bin.
The Government said that there was no truth in the rumours that householders will have to present their National Id Card to refuse collectors before their wheelie bin would be collected.
14. Mark Hosey
Whenever local government has tried waste disposal charging fly tipping goes up. Result = cost of keeping the streets and country side clean and free of dumped rubbish goes up, amount of vermin goes up as does the cost in suppressing their populations. Health and safety risks increase and administrative costs increase. I’ll bet Sittard has not factored in these additional associated costs.
Anyway, what’s wrong with the system we have where we pay through our local taxes? Perhaps there are also plans afoot to send us all separate bills for street lighting, maintenance of parks, gardens and public buildings, use of libraries & schools, running local law services not forgetting vermin control and street & country side cleaning! There are many services that must be carried out on our behalf for our mutual benefit to maintain a clean, healthy, safe and stimulating environment. Household waste collection is one of the most important payment for which is most fairly met by local communal taxes.
PTO
15. Mark Hosey
Part II
We are not responsible for the majority of waste that ends up in our bins. It’s manufacturers and retailers that make rubbish, not individuals (with multiple layers of packaging, free carrier bags which are at best only partially bio-degradable, electronic goods that are not economically repairable or recyclable, etc). We have had a disposable culture imposed on us by manufacturers and retailers and it has been done to benefit them, not us. And now we are expect to pay for the disposal of their rubbish. They should be forced by law to reduce the amount of unnecessary unrecyclable material they impose on us which ends up in our bins. Perhaps the LGA and Sittard could do a bit of research to determine whether or not the savings would be better met using this low tech approach rather than using the high tech sledge hammer they are now threatening us all with.
(Do those 38% really believe that new council tax + rubbish collection charges will be less than present council tax?!? On yer bike ye na? eejits!
If I do any fly tipping it will be in the supermarket and/or council car park!)
16. anonymous
This article makes it sound like chip and bin is in the future. Here is a fact. ALL wheelie bins now made contain a chip and this announcement by Her Majesty's Money Grabbers mind game players is just to lull you into a sense of the inevitable. Mark my words, we will soon have a "Trial" run which will prove to be so popular and effective it wil be rolled out across the country. Council taxes will go down a little (but insufficient to account for the additional costs of collection from chipped bins) and then will increase well above the amount that they were at before the new process was launched. Who did they question to get the results for this survey? The people who were responsible for thinking up this new form of highway robbery? It cannot have been Mr Ordinary. And the long term results of this new form of robbery - loads of fly-tipping. I will participate in this process - but my fly-tipping will be on the desk of my council mayor with the press photographers in attendance.
17. anonymous
How can we register our disapproval?
Can someone let me know what can be done to influence this process and stop it happening. I am sure posting our comments alone will not make a difference and I would like to know how to make a difference.
18. anonymous
So I'm thinking of leaving a pile of black bin bags (full, of course) at the doors of the Town Hall...
That should keep the weight of my bin down, shouldn't it?
19. MusicFan
Perhaps we should return all our tesco packaging twence it came .........recycling........
20. anonymous
Wasn't this an April story - That is, just before the local elections? I've no idea of the veracity of the intention but I'm sure I've seen all the arguments and, so far as I know, nobody has presented any truely convincing evidence of the 'chip'n' the bin' plan by local councils (but, then, they would say that, wouldn't they).
21. Lesley
Re: How can we register our disapproval?
Why don't we do it online, and create a petition?
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/
22. J C Walker
Perhaps a petition on the number 10 website and a concerted effort on everyone's part to e-mail all and sundry with a link to it and a request to sign would be a start, to answer the question about how we can protest? We know No. 10 don't take much notice of the majority of such petitions but if we could get the number of signatories up into 7 figures, it might worry Gordon a bit?
23. Bruce Sandeman
I wonder sometimes if anyone in government is actually capable of using their brain when they come up with ideas like this. How they expect charging for waste to help with recycling I do not know!
Firstly, the enormous money involved in creating these wheelie bins is gonna be ridiculous!
Secondly, what are they gonna do with the existing wheelie bins? Bet they don't recycle them!
Thirdly, I was at the local garbage dump the other day and was dumping loads of stuff, of which a lot was plastic bags, plastic sheets etc... All of which do not get recycled!!!! how crazy is that!
They should recycle things properly, and reward people for recycling. Something like nectar points or some such scheme would be a good idea.
thanks
24. Dave Collins
Hmmmmm,
Firstly this is going to increase fly tipping, obviously!
Secondly this doesn't solve the problem of food waste being in the bin for 2 weeks before collection (stinks in the summer)
Thirdly, this obviously is using some kind of passive RFID system, what happens if your bin gets mixed up with your neighbours? What if there is an 'accidental' EMP in the vacinity that blew the chip?
Not going to work, you'll have ppl putting their rubbish in others bins to avoid charges, fly tipping will escelate, and I very much doubt the council tax will go down!
25. K Mawdsley
What will then happen at the local tip? will our cars be weighed to determine how much rubbish we have on board? I don't mind the charge so long as the council tax does come down in proportion - blimey a pig just flew past the window.
We already recycle plastic, card, paper, tin, glass, green stuff and have a dog for the food waste!!! - the dog is the only one they can't ship to China (yet).
26. anonymous
Word's almost fail me, how can any sane person think's this could work. An immediate result would be an increase in fly-tipping, and undoubtedly dumping of rubbish into the bins of beighbours. When will the authorities tackle the real problem?, any packaging or waste creating items have a recyclng charge built in, so the consumer has already paid for its disposal/recycling on purchase. This may just promote the idea of less packaging to manufactirers, and remove the burden from the consumer
27. Richard Peters
Our local council have been requested to recover their unwanted shiny blue recycling bins by 85% of residents (mainly solo pensioners) in a nearby area. Their problem; they live in period terraces with no front garden. The green jobbie is bad enough to drag through their house on a collection day but to have another huge bin for a carrier bag of rubbish per fortnight is ridiculous. When will the control freaks lose their notion that one solution will always fit every circumstance? Perhaps this is because revenue generation, and not local requirements, was the primary focus of their agenda?