There have been some interesting and innovative strategies employed by the United Kingdom in its effort to reduce rates and boost recycling rates. Studies have shown that there are various effective ways to get people to recycle more. One way is to offer incentives and many local councils and businesses have been able to effectively raise recycling rates by offering customers cash rewards, shopping vouchers, or by donating money to charity in their name. Another approach aims to punish those who are not doing their part with things like dustbin taxes for people who do not properly separate their rubbish, or increased fees to dump waste in a landfill. Both have been effective in different places but some MP’s say that these disincentives are not enough and that there needs to be more effort to keep people from polluting.
A cross party committee called EFRA, which stands for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs, recently suggested that further taxes be levied against those items which are most commonly disposed of in an improper way. Hamburger wrappers and boxes, candy bar wrappers, and chewing gum are the items most thrown on the streets, which causes a major problem for local councils. While these may seem like harmless items they actually end up costing local councils millions in clean up fees and man hours. This is why EFRA recommended that an additional clean up tax be levied against the items that are most commonly thrown on the ground, thus reducing the cost to local councils.
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