d kallon's Library tagged Technology → View Popular

Filter:
All
Annotated

01 Dec 09

Bin tax technology does not work, councils admit - Telegraph

"Despite Downing Street hints of a retreat on the policy, ministers are pressing ahead with plans to test the 'pay-as-you-throw' schemes Photo: PA

Accurately measuring waste is vital to plans to levy fees on the households that throw away most – as they will be charged for the amount they produce.

Flaws with the electronic systems meant to weigh bins have raised the prospect of people being wrongly charged.The monitoring errors have been experienced by several councils testing the systems.

Related Articles

*
Civil servants sent on £1,000-a-head seaside 'junket' to discuss bin taxes

This is the latest blow to the controversial scheme, which is continuing despite growing public hostility and the opposition of many Labour MPs.

Despite Downing Street hints of a retreat on the policy, ministers are pressing ahead with plans to test the "pay-as-you-throw'' schemes, that could mean families are charged £50 a year for rubbish disposal on top of council tax.

Advocates say the scheme would encourage recycling, and point out that families with below-average rubbish disposals would actually receive bonuses.

The scheme works by installing microchips in people's bins. These communicate the weight of the rubbish in the bin via an antenna to a computer on the bin lorry.

Residents receive an annual statement detailing the weight of their rubbish and whether any extra charges are due.

Many councils already use "bin weighing technology".

But councils including South Norfolk, Hammersmith and Fulham, Lambeth and Leeds, have reported problems with the technology, Whitehall documents show.

South Norfolk, which started to use the technology widely in 2006, decided to turn off the microchips in 50,000 bins because the information they gave was incomplete.

The council won a grant of more than £1 million from the Government in 2002 for its new kerbside refuse and recycling scheme.

But John Fuller, the leader of the Tory-run council, said the technology was ill-suited for household use and could not cope with 1,000