MPs rubbish refuse plans
The government wants more people to recycle their household waste
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Monday, 16, Jul 2007 04:23
MPs have dismissed the government's plans to get more householders recycling as "too timid" and "too complicated".
Members of the House of Commons' communities and local government select committee said the proposed financial incentives scheme was "unlikely to work" in a new report published today
Under the proposals households would be rewarded an annual payment of around £20 or £30 to sort waste into different bins for recycling processes, but the report fears it could lead to "public protest" and increased fly-tipping.
The alternate weekly collection scheme recently introduced by some local authorities, which proved one of the most controversial issues in May's local elections, is also criticised by the report.
In this solution refuse is removed one week and recyclable materials the next, but MPs say it is unsuitable for crowded urban areas and may have negative health implications.
"Our clear conclusion is that no single collection system could suit every authority across the range of all local circumstances," committee chairperson Phyllis Starkey said.
"We would like the government come up with a core definition of what householders should expect from their refuse collection. This should include no complicated rules, rubbish collected when the council says it will be and schemes to suit every household from the largest rural home to the most crowded urban area."
The Conservatives focussed their attention on another potential solution, the 'bin tax', which the report says will be resented because many believe they already pay for their refusal removal through their council tax bill.
Shadow local government secretary Eric Pickles said: "Now every household faces the prospect of new rubbish taxes… with sinister bin chips already being fitted by the government in bins to spy on families without their knowledge.
"Bin taxes would damage the local environment and public health by leading to a surge in fly-tipping and backyard burning, and the poorest households would be hit the hardest by this highly regressive new tax. Bin taxes aren't a green tax - they're just another excuse by Gordon Brown to tax more by stealth."
A statement from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said the government was "disappointed" by the committee's unimpressed stance on the need to trial new means of tackling the waste disposal problem.
"We are currently consulting on our financial incentives proposal and will not finalise our policy until this is completed. But it's clear that we cannot go on throwing ever increasing amounts of rubbish into landfill," the statement said.
It attacked the committee for misunderstanding its proposals, saying local authorities would be able to choose the level of reward rather than fixing a national level.