The streets of downtown London will soon look a little different as a plan is in motion to replace all street bins with recycling containers in an effort to cut down on waste. The campaign was launched earlier this week by government ministers and will eliminate refuse bins from shopping centres, parks, tourist spots and from High Street.
Instead of one refuse bins, there will be several, each intended for a different recyclable material. The “compulsory recycling” in streets and parks will separate rubbish from bottles, cans, and wrappers.
But the Ministers at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have made statements indicating that the “recycle-on-the-go” scheme will be entirely voluntary. Many people fear that it will be subject to the same punishments as the council “bin police” have enacted upon families who break household recycling rules.
Eric Pickles, a spokesman for the shadow local government, said: “We need a cast-iron guarantee from the Government that this new initiative won’t be an excuse by Whitehall to clobber people who put their rubbish in the wrong bin with extortionate fines.”
At the Taxpayers’ Alliance, chief executive Matthew Elliott said: “This threatens to be a nightmare for ordinary people and a massive cash machine for cynical local authorities.”
Authorities have not yet made an official statement as to whether it will be an offence in the future to put the wrong rubbish in the wrong bin.
A spokesman said: “Recycling is part of everyday life and we don’t think it is asking too much that people should do it when they are on the move.”
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