Powers for councils to introduce financial incentives for recycling are to be included in the draft Climate Change Bill, environment minister Hilary Benn has confirmed.

Residents could soon be encouraged to recycle through financial incentive schemes if the Climate Change Bill becomes law

Despite fears last week that Downing Street had pulled the plug on the scheme (see letsrecycle.com story), Mr Benn announced today that the Climate Change Bill would be used to "provide a power so that a number of local authorities who want to can pilot incentives for household waste minimisation and recycling."

Under the proposals, the financial incentives will be "revenue-neutral" and are expected to help save between 2 million to 6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent through landfill emissions in 2020, depending on participation.

However, uncertainty still remains over whether the powers will be limited to "pilot" schemes, with Defra promising in the document that it would announce full details of the proposals "in due course."

It is now expected the Bill will be introduced to parliament "at the earliest possible legislative opportunity" - and could become law by the Spring.

Writing in a command paper laying out the government's response to the Bill's public consultation and pre-legislative scrutiny, Mr Benn said: "Landfill is responsible for 3% of all UK greenhouse gas emissions. The Government recently announced plans to tackle further the issue of landfilling waste by enabling local authorities to introduce revenue-neutral financial incentive schemes to encourage households to reduce and recycle their waste.

"These plans are being taken forward through the Climate Change Bill and, depending on roll-out and uptake among local authorities, could save about 2-6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2020. Any new schemes must be revenue neutral and should not lead to an increase in the overall cost to local residents."

Bill

Under the original Climate Change Bill, which was published in March (see letsrecycle.com story) , the government set out a blueprint for creating a low carbon economy in the UK.

Proposals included reducing carbon dioxide emissions in the UK by 60% and setting out "carbon budgets" set at least 15 years ahead.

Government changes to this document now include asking the Committee on Climate Change to investigate whether the 60% carbon emission reduction target should be strengthened and strengthening the role and responsibilities of the Committee.

Mr Benn said: "The draft bill we set out earlier this year, and have now refined, is a ground breaking blueprint for moving the UK towards a low carbon economy. It will bind us to legally enforceable emissions reduction targets at home, while giving us greater clout on the international negotiating table.

"I am extremely grateful for the invaluable input from the three parliamentary committees, and from industry and the wider public that has brought us to this point. Thanks to their efforts we will now have a bill that is stronger, more effective and more transparent, " he added.

Explaining the announcement, a spokeswoman for Defra said that there were no further details at present over what exactly the financial incentive schemes would involve, and that more would be revealed when the department published its responses to the recycling incentive public consultation.

She said: "We are still going to make an announcement but we don't know when. It's a case of wait and see."