Meacher pushes variable charging

The minister endorsed the idea yesterday (10.11.02) on BBC1's political programme On the Record, in which he said the government was “certainly looking at” making people pay according to the amount of waste they generate.

Referring to the current system in which waste charges are included in council tax bills, Mr Meacher said: “The problem is that we're all paying the same amount. If you generate a very little level of waste, say 201b worth … and someone else generates 2001b worth, both pay the same amount, even though it costs 10 times more to dispose of one compared to the other.”

Speculation

Mr Meacher's comments have fuelled speculation that the Strategy Unit – the government's think tank on waste – will propose a charge based on how much rubbish householders produce in its report due out at the end of November.

This is not the first time the minister has spoken out in favour of variable charging. In July he contributed to a media debate over a “bin tax,” saying: “Charging people would provide a useful extra incentive to reduce and recycle waste. The important thing first is to make sure that everyone has the [kerbside] facilities to compost and recycle.” (See letsrecycle.com story)

And at the Labour party conference in September, he told delegates that variable charging, if introduced, would replace council tax waste charges, not supplement them, as claimed in some newspapers.

Kay Twitchen, chair of the Local Government Association's waste executive, told On the Record that most people would go along with variable charging as long as they had the option to recycle materials at the doorstep.

But she also warned the audience that local authorities would struggle with another imminent government move – a sudden hike in the Landfill Tax. “If they've got to pay extra landfill tax, as well as being expected to provide all the gear that will make recycling work, I don't think we've got a hope of meeting the terms of the Landfill Directive,” she said.

Energy-from-waste

Mr Meacher also confirmed reports that the government was planning to increase the number of incinerators in the UK, although he insisted that no decision had been made as to how many. “Some people say the government has a figure in its back pocket as to what it intends. That is complete rubbish,” he told the BBC.