The LGA has defended the controversial pilot pay-as-you-throw schemes to cut waste being sent to landfill. Five council waste-incentive schemes make up part of the draft guidance on a ‘good' recycling service, issued by the Government, after 80% of councils responded to the CLG's consultation last year supported the move. The scheme will work by providing financial incentives for those who produce less waste, thereby saving councils money on increasing landfill tax rates. The UK is the only EU member state which does not allow such schemes. Chairman of the LGA environment board, Cllr Paul Bettison, has backed the idea. ‘Save-as-you-throw is not about paying more, it's about paying in a different way. It's also fairer, because if you throw out less, you pay less,' said Cllr Bettison. He called Britain the ‘dustbin of Europe' and said the days of people throwing their rubbish away without a second thought were ‘now over.' The pilots will be launched in April 2009. To comment on the consultation, e-mail waste.incentives@defra.gsi.gov.uk by 25 July.
