'Pay As You Throw' Plan Tossed

5 years ago Environment

The UK government has backed off on a controversial tax that would have charged householders who do not recycle. Trash pile Ministers were supposed to announce the new charges today, but the plan has been shelved indefinitely. The information comes from a BBC story, which also suggests that Gordon Brown was responsible for getting the tax canned.

Brown was allegedly worried about the financial impacts on families that produce a lot of garbage. The environmental department (Defra) had been in favor of the tax as a method of increasing domestic recycling. Britain lags behind much of Europe in household recycling rates.

Conservatives attacked the Labour government, accusing it of caving in. Conservative local secretary Eric Pickles said “The fact that Gordon Brown appears to have caved in is a vindication of the campaign by Conservatives against Labour's plans for this hated tax on families.”

Gordon Brown’s administration is beginning to show a troubling record in regards to environmental issues. A simple tax for not recycling is not an attack on families but a way to combat the laziness about recycling and environmental issues so common in British society. First he abandoned plans to meet renewable energy costs, and now has flip-flopped after a moderate amount of public pressure on a simple recycling bill. Will Gordon Brown’s term in office be the dirtiest in British history?

Source: Guardian

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Written by: Chris

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Old Comments

Karl Berg says

Mar 8th, 2009 at 12am
Blech. That guy makes me throw up in my mouth.

Ulises Heath says

Mar 8th, 2009 at 12am
ex-member of destiny?s child

zippy says

Oct 28th, 2007 at 12am
The bag bans need to be universal. The U.S. is adding more, including the one that's coming up in San Francisco in late November/early December. Philly, Boston, Phoenix, and many other cities are considering them. But the bans need to be universal. There's no excuse for not taking your own bag. Many European nations have required this for years and I'm sure there are plenty of people who are low income but can find a solution. Take an old pair of jeans or an old pillow case and make a bag. People recycled their clothing and linens years ago instead of discarding it. Making bags is one solution. Martha Stewart demonstrated on her show how bags can be made from a Tshirt. So the only excuse for not using a bag is lack of effort. And if you can afford to, give bags as gifts. I gave a friend one of my ChicoBags when she was heading back to Europe recently and she loved it and said that it came in handy because it was so small that she could pop it into her purse, it was lightweight, and it didn't take up space in her suitcase. If people can take a reusable bag while traveling, they can certainly use them at home. Nearly every market is selling reusable bags and there are tons in catalogs and on the internet. There is no excuse for non-use. Besides, the only thing worse than having a zillion plastic bags pile up at home is dumping them out into the environment.