The scheme is aimed at helping councils increase their recycling rates by offering incentives to households, such as shopping vouchers and loyalty rewards, without facing the ‘threat of unfair bin fines’ and cuts to collection services.
The fund builds on an estimated 40 projects that have been supported by Coalition Government funding to trial and pilot recycling reward schemes.
Such schemes, which include Greenredeem and Green Points, see residents rewarded for the amount of household waste they recycle. They have already been rolled out in a number of local authorities (see letsrecycle.com story).
The extra funding is a ‘clear signal’ that councils only offering fortnightly residual waste collections will lose out on government funding, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) said today.
Punitive
DCLG’s announcement comes ahead of the Deregulation Bill being discussed in Parliament – the Bill is set to abolish ‘punitive measures’ used by councils to increase recycling.
Commenting on the £5 million fund, Mr Pickles criticised “town hall bin barons” who push through fortnightly refuse collections, and argued some councils were using “stealth” to impose monthly rounds on residents.
He said: “It is a myth that fortnightly bin collections or unfair bin fines are needed to increase recycling. Rewards for recycling show how working with families can deliver environmental benefits without the draconian approach of punishing people and leaving out smelly rubbish.
“This government is protecting the local environment by supporting recycling, as well as championing weekly collections which protect local amenity and public health. Councils with fortnightly collections will not receive government funding and are short-changing their residents with an inferior service.”
‘Bin barons’
And, the Secretary of State emphasised: “There is an alternative to the town hall bin barons who pushed through fortnightly bin collections and are now trying to move to monthly bin collections by stealth.”
The fund is open to all councils in England operating free weekly bin collections (of residual waste and/or weekly food/organic waste). Councils with fortnightly collections are not eligible.
Bids to the fund close on November 7 2014, with successful bids to be announced in January 2015 and the money to be made available from April 2015. More information is due to follow shortly.
Alongside the announcement, DCLG highlighted a number of frontline services the government had supported. These include revoking legislation to allow imposition of new bin taxes, changing building regulations to tackle ‘bin blight’ and stopping Audit Commission inspections of councils that do not adopt fortnightly collections.
DCLG also stressed the publication of guidance on weekly bin collections in January, which was dubbed by the department itself as the ‘bin bible’ (see letsrecycle.com story).
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