Government 'Bin Tax' Plan Likely to Fail, say MPs

Government plans to introduce a "bin tax" to encourage recycling are likely to fail, a cross-party committee of MPs said on Monday.

The Communities and Local Government select committee said the government's proposed waste strategy -- including moves to allow councils to levy "pay-as-you-throw" rubbish taxes, in which people would be charged according to the amount of rubbish they produce -- are too complicated and unlikely to work.

The scheme could lead to public protest, more fly-tipping of household waste and non-payment, iT said.

In Ireland, where bin taxes have already been introduced, many local authorities have reported increases in backyard burning and fly-tipping, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

The committee questioned how councils would enforce payment, saying that, given the impact on other householders, rubbish left out by non-payers could not be left on the pavement.

Some residents might also try to cut their bills by putting rubbish in their neighbours' bins.

"We are not convinced that enough work has been done or guidance given to local authorities on how to prevent such risks blighting areas and causing disputes," the report said.

"Nor are we convinced that local authorities already faced with increaseD waste costs will be adequately funded to deal with increased administration, clear-up and prosecution costs."

The MPs concluded that plans to give those who sort waste into as many as five different bins, bags or boxes rewards as little as 20 or 30 pounds per year would not outweigh the negative psychological impact of making non-environmentally friendly householders pay more.

Such a scheme would be seen as an additional charge for a service most people already believe they pay for through their council tax, the MPs said.

Conservative MP Eric Pickles, shadow secretary of state for local government, said the move would harm the environment.

"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," he said.

"Bin taxes aren't a green tax -- they're just another excuse by Gordon Brown to tax more by stealth."

The select committee also called for further research into the health implications of alternate weekly collections, where refuse is taken away one week and recyclable materials the next, following anecdotal evidence about increased populations of flies, maggots, rats and other vermin.

The issue crept up the political agenda after newspapers threw their weight behind calls to keep weekly collections.

Committee chair Dr Phyllis Starkey said: "We would like the government to 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."