It sounds to me like 'flying a kite' just to see what public reaction would be, but if the concept of a 'bin tax' is a genuine possibility,
then the public's reaction will be predictably negative.
And no surprise. If we are to be charged for the amount of rubbish we throw out my prediction is that much of it will end up dumped in quiet country lanes in the middle of the night. Or if it is not tipped in out of the way locations, then households will find their bins magically filled with other people's rubbish. So we will have to padlock our bins. Ah! Problem. How do they get emptied. The collectors will have a key? So will the rest of us. The stupidity of the concept is plain for all to see.
But this lunatic plan is symptomatic of a deeper problem - that of excessive supermarket packaging and most boroughs inability to recycle it.
Take a look in your bin. Most of it is either metal, paper or plastic. The rest of it is food waste. The vast majority of all that we throw away can be recycled. The fact that it is not is due to the prohibitive cost, it being cheaper to make new plastic from new materials, and not to spend a fortune on the collecting, sorting and transportation of near worthless, 'dirty', used material.
There is another problem, and that is us. We cannot be bothered. It is far easier just to 'chuck it in the bin'. That is why the suggestion that we should be charged for the rubbish we throw out... Silly me. I thought we paid through our Council Tax.
Germany, to take one example, has a much better track-record for recycling, without threats of additional charges. We should follow their example.
And no surprise. If we are to be charged for the amount of rubbish we throw out my prediction is that much of it will end up dumped in quiet country lanes in the middle of the night. Or if it is not tipped in out of the way locations, then households will find their bins magically filled with other people's rubbish. So we will have to padlock our bins. Ah! Problem. How do they get emptied. The collectors will have a key? So will the rest of us. The stupidity of the concept is plain for all to see.
But this lunatic plan is symptomatic of a deeper problem - that of excessive supermarket packaging and most boroughs inability to recycle it.
Take a look in your bin. Most of it is either metal, paper or plastic. The rest of it is food waste. The vast majority of all that we throw away can be recycled. The fact that it is not is due to the prohibitive cost, it being cheaper to make new plastic from new materials, and not to spend a fortune on the collecting, sorting and transportation of near worthless, 'dirty', used material.
There is another problem, and that is us. We cannot be bothered. It is far easier just to 'chuck it in the bin'. That is why the suggestion that we should be charged for the rubbish we throw out... Silly me. I thought we paid through our Council Tax.
Germany, to take one example, has a much better track-record for recycling, without threats of additional charges. We should follow their example.
