£1,000 Fine For Using Wrong Bin: Families Face New Crackdown Over Household Waste

Householders could be fined up to £1,000 if they fail to comply with complex new rules on refuse sorting.
Food scraps, tea bags and vegetable peelings thrown into the wrong dustbin could land them with hefty penalties under government plans to be unveiled today.
Families could end up with five different bins and receptacles - including compulsory slop buckets for food waste - and be forced to sift through rubbish for anything that can be recycled, reused or converted into electricity.

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Microchips in Our Bins Herald Pay as You Throw Tax, Say Tories

The number of households that have microchips in their bins has jumped to 2.6m in the past 12 months, according to a new report.

The study shows that 68 councils across the UK now put the new technology in their bins – a two-thirds increase in the past year.

Councils say the microchips identify which houses the bins belong to and deny accusations that they allow local authorities to analyse the amount of rubbish being thrown away. But opposition politicians claim the microchips can be used to weigh waste and fear the rise in the use of the technology will lead to "pay as you throw" schemes.

Caroline Spelman, shadow communities secretary, said: "Labour ministers are secretly planning to roll out bin taxes across the country after the election if Gordon Brown can cling to power.'

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Knock, Knock: It’s the Council Bin Snoops

HOUSEHOLDERS are facing “re-education” home visits for producing too much rubbish after figures released under freedom of information laws revealed that councils have quietly microchipped 2m bins.

The chips can be used to record the amount of rubbish families are throwing away. Those recycling too little will be sent warning leaflets, then visited by council officials who will advise on cutting waste.

Details of the scheme resurrect the long-term prospect of a pay-as-you-throw bin tax, which many thought had died when councils failed to take part in government trials.
Councils in Oxfordshire hope to escape controversy by using the technology to educate rather than charge residents. But officials admit it could eventually pave the way for a full-blown bin tax.

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