Dustbin Tax? What Next, Breathing Tax!?

Posted:Abigail Andrews - Tuesday, March 18th, 2008 at 8:22 pm.

What is Pay-As-You-Throw?

It has been in the news for over a year, but what is the pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) scheme we keep hearing about and how will it affect us? Put simply pay-as-you-throw schemes will allow local councils to charge families for the amount of rubbish they produce. My question is: is this a sensible way to manage UK waste and encourage people to be more responsible about recycling, or is it just another stealth tax? I am leaning towards the view that it is just another way for the government to charge us for something we already pay for, under the guise of showing commitment to the European Union towards recycling. Here's why....

Is PAYT another Stealth Tax?

is this a sensible way to manage UK waste and encourage people to be more responsible about recycling, or is it just another stealth tax?

Pay-as-you-throw is being considered by the UK government as all EU countries made a commitment to recycle more waste, but progress has been slow in the UK and we are way down the table in terms of how much we actually recycle as a nation. Yes, I agree, the UK has to get its act together, but is charging people for producing too much waste really the answer? If the government really wanted to encourage more recycling and not just take more money from our pockets, surely, it is more of an incentive to reward people for going out of their way to recycle, than to penalise people all of us for those who don't?

PAYT is un-manageable to say the least!

Our streets and beauty spots will be filled with waste from those who don't want to pay.

I fail to see how these new schemes will be managed? In my opinion all it will do is encourage fly tipping. Our streets and beauty spots will be filled with waste from those who don't want to pay. We could see feuding neighbours as people who don't want to pay may even try to dump waste in other people's bins and gardens. What about the blocks of flats where multiple residents share bins, how will they know whose rubbish is whose? And what will happen to those bags that are abandoned on the street by those who don't want to pay? Will the bin men drop any old abandoned bag in the nearest bin....perhaps yours....increasing your charge? Surely, it seems unmanageable to say the least!

Apparently pay-as-you-throw shouldn't be a an additional 'dustbin tax', it should actually lead to a fall in council tax. If that happens I swear I will eat my own hand! Council Tax goes up year on year and many of you would agree with me when I say I don't see anything for it? I mean for a start, the roads are falling apart, the sewerage system is neglected, and our normal waste collection is threatened with a 2 weekly pick up...yet waste services on my bill rises year after year? If waste related services costs on my council tax bill went down as a result of implementing pay-as-you-throw, I would say bring it on, however, I very, very much doubt it will!

Just make it easier to Recycle

Unfortunately my council only provides me with one green bin and only picks it up every 4 weeks.

Many people would probably agree with me when I say I would recycle more if it were easier to do so. Unfortunately my council only provides me with one green bin and only picks it up every 4 weeks. My bin is full after less than a week! Obviously, the requirement for bin collections probably varies per size of household, but even as a 2 person household, a four weekly recycling collection is simply not enough! If my local council increased this to 2 weekly then I could recycle much more. Quite simply, current arrangements are inadequate for my needs, never mind those larger households in my area.

Furthermore, there are so many things I am simply not allowed to put in my recycle bin, certain plastics and no glass for a start. It is beyond me why we do not have facility to recycle some of these things mainly supermarket food packaging! Just to make it even harder for me, my nearest bottle bank is 4 miles away. I use it, but why not make it easier for me to use it more? I don't need to be charged for not recycling, I simply need help from the government to do so, I am more than willing to co-operate as many of you probably are too.

I believe the best incentive is not to punish those who don't recycle enough, as sometimes it isn't their fault, like it isn't mine, therefore, reward those who go out of their way to recycle with a financial incentive. Surely it's just the same? Oh no, perhaps it isn't, it would not raise any money in tax for the government, and there is my point, the simple reason why it is not being seriously considered as an alternative to the dustbin tax!

reward those who go out of their way to recycle with a financial incentive

Does anyone else remember when pop bottles had a 10p reward on them if you returned it to the shop for recycling? What ever happened to sensible ideas like that? In the US a soft drink can had a value of 5c. This 5c would of course have been part of the retail cost but that system encouraged people to save their empty cans and return them to various outlets. This system could be applied to a whole range of recyclable products in the UK too. However, yet again, it will not be considered as an alternative, as it does not make the government money. I sense a theme emerging here do you?!

Encourage More Recycling Facilities

Why doesn't the government encourage and help recycling plants. A report from the Adam Smith Institute suggested recycling facilities and providers should be allowed to merge and consolidate, and the free movement and trade of recyclables should be established. This would allow economies of scale to be established, bringing down the cost of recycling and recycled goods, and ensuring a market for commercially viable businesses in the long run. I say bring it on, this is a much more sensible idea, it would be in the interest of these companies to make it easier for everyone to recycle and thus more people would do so.

Penalise the Supermarkets

I am not all against the idea, I suppose PAYT would also encourage much greater consumer-led environmentalism. If consumers know that waste carries a charge, they would demand less packaging and more recyclable materials from shops, and perhaps this would be more effective than government regulation. I mean the customers always right, yes?

If the government wants to penalise people for not recycling, why do they not go to the route of the problem, and charge supermarkets for not being environmentally responsible. Why should we be penalised when supermarkets force too much packaging upon us? It appears at the moment consumers have little power to buy products with less packaging, I am sure many people would if they had the choice!

If the government wants to penalise people for not recycling, why do they not go to the route of the problem, and charge supermarkets for not being environmentally responsible.

The Government's proposals for waste charging are receiving widespread opposition simply because they are half-baked and ill thought out and can only be seen as a way of yet again taxing the UK population and taking more money from our pockets, for a service we already pay for!

Final thought, if Bin Tax in it's current scope is successfully introduced, then what next? Toilet paper tax? Breathing Tax? Perhaps Sneezing Tax? Your guess is as good as mine!

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