MORE RECYCLING MEANS MORE COUNCIL TAX, SAY LOCAL AUTHORITIES

Sevenoaks, Kent, 1st July 2006

A snapshot opinion survey by municipal services provider Verdant Group reveals that local authorities expect council tax to increase if recycling is expanded.

The survey sampled local authority officers and executives who attended Verdant’s recent inaugural Open Day event in Amersham, hosted by Chiltern District Council.

The day of presentations and site visits was created to give local authorities insights into recycling developments such as kitchen and green waste recycling, the impending implementation of the WEEE directive, automated bin weighing technology, recycling education and communication, and in-vessel composting.

The informal survey found:

• The biggest perceived hindrance to recycling expansion was lack of funding, followed by lack of disposal facilities and then Government bureaucracy. Public inertia and lack of legal powers were also cited as factors holding back recycling.
  
• Two thirds felt recycling expansion will mean increases in council tax, the same proportion who also said that the public will have to get used to the idea of paying fees for enhanced services, such as green waste recycling schemes.
  
• A unanimous view that both ‘carrot and stick’ (incentive and punitive measures) would work best to increase public participation in recycling.
  
• While none were considering compulsory participation recycling schemes, nearly half the respondents felt there should be legislation allowing ‘weigh and pay’ schemes, as has already been mooted by Government.
  
• Two thirds of councils were driven by both recycling and LATS targets.
  
• Councils’ main priority was to increase overall recycling, followed jointly by health& safety and joint procurement.