After last month's reports of a possible “rubbish tax”, provoked by the leaking of a document from the PIU, the Times yesterday carried a front-page article announcing a “scheme being considered by the government” that would charge householders for collecting unsorted rubbish, while collecting sorted rubbish for nothing.
However, a spokesperson for the PIU waste team said: “It's complete fabrication. We've not made any proposals and there's been no report.”
The PIU, who provide policy advice directly to the Prime Minister, is currently working on a Waste Review that will culminate in a replacement for the government's Waste Strategy 2000. The PIU's report, due out in October, is expected to have wide repercussions throughout the waste industry, advising the government on the best way to bolster flagging recycling rates and meet the increasingly difficult European regulations on waste.
With the enormous amount of interest in the issue of waste throughout the country, commentators in the national media had expressed concerns that last month's “rubbish tax” report had been leaked purposefully in order to gauge public opinion on the matter. The government denied such a suggestion.
The spokesman for the PIU's waste team said that he believed yesterday's report to have been produced using information readily available on the PIU's website. He said: “Way back in January, we listed a whole load of questions on our website for people to consider, and that's where this has come from.”
The spokesman confirmed to letsrecycle.com that the Waste Review should be ready on time by the end of October, although he said it might be difficult since Parliament returns from the summer recess on 15th of that month.
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