Council taxpayers can't pick up the bill for new rubbish collections

9 June 2009

Responding to the announcement of government plans to hold a consultation on banning items such as food waste, glass, aluminium cans and wood from going to landfill, a spokesman for the LGA said:

“Councils are acutely aware of the need to cut back on the amount of waste being sent to landfill and are already working extremely hard to do this. Councils pay £40 in taxes to the government for every tonne of rubbish that goes into the ground.

”Cutting back on waste going to landfill is good for the environment and good for the council taxpayer. However, banning food waste going to landfill would require a huge investment so councils could operate new collections and process food waste separately. It needs to be up to local authorities to decide how they get rid of people’s rubbish.

”Cost needs to be considered in any proposals. It can’t be left to hard pressed council taxpayers to pick up the bill for new rubbish collections and new waste disposal plants. Councils need to keep the flexibility to operate the types of bin collections that work for local people. Not everyone will have the space for a separate bin for their food waste.”

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