31/08/07 - Whitehall Plans For New Bin Taxes Will Mean Surge In Fly-Tipping

Whitehall plans for new bin taxes will mean surge in fly-tipping

The Labour Government’s plans to impose Euro-style taxes for the collection of household rubbish, on top of council tax, were slammed today as local Conservatives warned of a massive surge in fly-tipping. With the Whitehall ‘consultation’ on the new tax scheme having now closed, the small print of the Government’s own 228-page research reveals the new taxes will almost double the level of fly-tipping in England.

·              The Government’s own research estimates that bin taxes will lead to an additional155,000 tonnes of fly-tipping a year across England. This would be equivalent to an average of 440 tonnes of rubbish dumped across the Peterborough City Council area.

·              The taxes will almost double the amount that town halls currently spend on cleaning up fly-tipping.

·              Illegal dumping includes household waste being placed in neighbour’s bins, in street litter bins, in next door councils, dumping waste at work, and fly-tipping.

Research by the Countryside Alliance has found that black bags full of domestic rubbish already account for 63 per cent of all fly-tipping; yet just one in every 100 fly-tippers is actually prosecuted.

Bin taxes have already been introduced in the Republic of Ireland where they have caused a surge in fly-tipping; families who do not or cannot pay the bin taxes have their rubbish collections stopped. The Keep Britain Tidy campaign has warned that bin taxes will lead to "people simply dumping their garbage illegally in a bid to avoid paying up".

Cllr Justin Tomlinson, Prospective MP, Swindon North commented:

“Under Labour, fly-tipping has become endemic. Yet Whitehall plans for new taxes on family homes will make it even worse. We all want to increase the level of recycling, but bin taxes will harm the local environment by leading to a surge in illegal dumping and backyard burning.

Robert Buckland, Prospective MP, Swindon South added:

“Whether they can’t pay or won’t pay, I fear many irresponsible people will dump instead. And no-one believes that council taxes would fall if bin taxes were introduced. Bin taxes aren’t a green tax – they’re yet another stealth tax from Gordon Brown by another name.”