Britain’s waste system is perceived as a means of employing stealth bin taxes, a new report has claimed.
Think tank Policy Exchange published the report, which calls on the Government to "end pointless recycling" and radically overhaul the waste system.
Currently, the UK sends half of its waste to landfill sites, falling behind other countries such as France, Italy, Sweden and Germany. A total of 15.5 million tonnes of household rubbish was buried in landfill sites last year.
An overhaul of the current system could improve recycling rates, increase local authority efficiency and expand the proportion of the UK’s energy needs met through waste.
The report also blasts the "target culture" that has encouraged authorities to collect materials of marginal environmental benefit in order to meet tonnage targets.
Editor of the report and Head of Policy Exchange’s Energy and Environment Unit Ben Caldecott said: “The simple truth is that if we don’t make the way we recycle more efficient, as well as really cutting back on what we put into landfill, the cost for waste charges are going to keep going up – hitting people when their council tax bill lands on the doormat.
“If we reform the system, we can get more out of our bins whilst cutting household bills by up to 50 percent and reducing the hassle people experience from having too many bills and complicated collections.
“The Government’s ‘pay as you throw' schemes and alternate weekly collections haven’t improved Britain’s waste system, and the attempt to impose them has created a public backlash as they are perceived as stealth bin taxes.”
The report listed a number of recommendations to reduce greenhouse gas emission and save householders' money. These include:
* Food waste should be collected separately. Removing food waste from the residual waste stream could significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, enabling it to be used in anaerobic digestion (AD). It also decreases the need for collecting the remainder of each household’s waste and drives up recycling if combined with alternate weekly collections.
* In areas of high population density, and especially high-rise flats, separation is unlikely to be possible and should not be enforced.
* Any shift to an alternate weekly collection must be accompanied by a continued weekly collection of food waste. This would prevent problems with flies, vermin and smells arising for large households.
* Councils should be prevented from forcing an excessive number of bins on households. Councils that require their residents to keep five bins risk overloading householders and generating resentment.
* Three bins, for food waste, dry recyclates and residual waste, should be the limit on what householders can be expected to put up with, and Government should regulate to that effect.
* Itemise waste charges on council tax bills. Waste is politically controversial largely because of the council tax. Demonstrating exactly what each household pays towards waste services (currently approximately £100 a year) would bring much needed transparency to how waste services are funded, and enable taxpayers to hold their local authorities to account. Local councils should be free to offer incentives, discounts and other innovations in how waste is charged for, driving down costs and improving value for money.
* Abolish the present waste collection and disposal authorities and create single-tier waste authorities in England. Simplifying the waste collection system would make it more efficient and cost effective.
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