A recycling scheme that was first piloted by Windsor and Maidenhead councils has successfully ruled out the option of penalising wayward recyclers with ‘pay as you throw’ initiatives.
The rewards programme, pioneered by the two boroughs, has Communities Secretary Eric Pickles condemning any schemes that would see fees charged for household waste. Mr Pickles called the idea of ‘policing’ bins an ‘insult’ saying that the government will back rewarding households for recycling instead.
In order to meet upcoming EU targets, the UK must successfully reduce waste sent to landfill numbers by two-thirds in time for the 2020 goals. Previously, Labour had proposed that households the neglected to recycle be charged a fee, while residents that recycled more than they waste be given a rebate. Critics of the scheme have said that the ‘bin tax’ will instead encourage more fly-tipping and prompt illegal rubbish burning.
Mr Pickles has been adamant to rule out charging schemes, saying that people should be given respect, not have their rubbish bins inspected by local councils. Now, the Communities Secretary is backing a recently piloted scheme in Windsor and Maidenhead, which has seen widespread increases in recycling rates across the boroughs.
Beginning Monday, Windsor and Maidenhead will invite over 60,000 households to join the RecycleBank initiative, in an extension of an ongoing programme. Households in the borough will receive points for the total amount of recycling each time.
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