It came out recently that householders in the UK are slapped with heavier fines that shoplifters.
The controversial ‘bin criminal’ fees, which can cost homeowners up to £110, are steeper than the standard fine, £80, that police hand out to those nabbed shoplifting. Just last year, local authorities issued up to 1,240 penalty notices for households caught over-filling bins or placing rubbish bins out during the wrong times.
An additional 24,914 statutory notices were issued threatening homeowners with fines if they continued to violate the strict bin rules. Furthermore, 45,010 warning letters were sent out to individuals that had ‘allegedly’ violated the regulations. Several pressure groups have launched campaigns labeling the fines as ‘draconian’ and accused local councils of employing ‘money-grabbing’ tactics.
Campaign director for Big Brother Watch, Dylan Sharpe said that bin fines are just the most recent example of law-abiding citizens being treated like nothing better than criminals. Sharpe added that local councils were approaching recycling from the wrong direction.
The new coalition government has slammed the fines as well, saying that rewards-based incentives are much more effective when promoting recycling. Since 2007, the number and size of the fees for bin violations has steadily increased, however these could begin to wane as the coalition government begins to crack down on bin fines.
A spokesman for Local Government Association said that local authorities had set individual policies to enforce bin regulations in order to keep inline with European Union targets. The fines were introduced as a drastic means of cutting down waste sent to landfill.
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