Zero bin waste or get a fine
AN ARMY of snooping bin police will inspect the rubbish of millions of families under a sinister Government plan to create “zero waste” in Britain.
Squads of spies will carry out dawn raids to check that householders are not throwing out any rubbish and recycling it all instead.
People failing to comply with the strict rules face hefty fines. The cloak-and-dagger crackdown from the so-called “Talibin” has been launched in six pilot areas, the Daily Express can reveal, and could eventually apply to virtually all UK households.
It is the latest draconian scheme to be forced through by Labour ministers who have already masterminded the hated fortnightly collections and pay-as-you-throw bin taxes.
Laws passed in 2005 give town halls power to enter premises “to examine and investigate as required” and “to take samples of articles or substances found” if they think householders have broken any waste rules.
Critics last night said the move was another blow to civil liberties and warned that the “deluded” idea of creating a zero-waste society was simply “unachieveable”.
Bob Neill, Shadow Minister for Local Government, said: “Ministers are planning regular inspections of people’s bins by town hall bin police.
“Sinister laws passed by the Government allow inspectors to enter your home and garden, inspect your bins and take away samples and then fine you for breaching minor rules.
“This Binquisition is another sign of how Labour don’t care about the privacy of law-abiding citizens and treat home owners like common criminals.”
Doretta Cocks, founder of the Campaign for Weekly Bin Collections, said: “The Government must be deluded if it thinks we can achieve zero waste. It is totally unachieveable.
“Having bin police snooping around in dawn raids to take samples of people’s bins for analysis is a step too far.”
The Zero Waste Places Scheme was launched by Environment Secretary Hilary Benn. The idea is that people will have several recycling bins, including a slop bucket for food scraps and bins for glass, plastic, cardboard, paper, tins and garden waste.
Everything that could possibly be burned, re-used, recycled or left to rot would have to be sorted and collected, with a traditional black bin for the very small amount to be sent to landfill. Mr Benn suggested every council will be expected to have “full recycling services” by 2020. Where such radical policies are in force in Germany, normal bins are emptied only once a month.
Pilot areas have been set up in parts of Dorset, Shropshire, London and Suffolk. Larry Wolfe, of Shropshire Council, confirmed that the £10,000 scheme involved checking people’s bins.
An independent research company had been employed to collect refuse from a sample of properties over different days, he said.
A Defra spokeswoman said the idea was to find “innovative ways of reducing waste”.
A Defra spokesman said: “This project does not involve fines for householders who fail to recycle and it does not involve going through individual bins.
“The project looks at samples of waste collected to see what needs to be done to make it easier for residents to recycle. Reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill is essential if we are to tackle greenhouse gas emissions and get the most possible use out of the planet's resources.”
