Government plans that could force households to sort waste into up to seven separate bins and foot higher costs have descended into chaos amid fears the Tories would suffer a huge voter backlash.
Confirmation of the massive overhaul – branded ‘madness’ by critics – had been expected last month, but any announcement has now been delayed until after local elections next month.
Under the scheme, designed to make processes more consistent across England, rubbish would need to go into an array of different containers to stop cross-contamination before being taken to recycling centres.
However, concerns have been raised that it will be too onerous for families, while councils could add the bill to taxes.
Conservatives have voiced alarm at the prospect of voters learning about the prospective new arrangements just before crucial polls on May 4.
Under proposed plans some Britons could have up to seven different bins to look after, but the government have been forced to delay them over local election fears
At the moment, councils in England have discretion over how and when waste is collected from households and businesses (file picture)
A source in the waste industry told the Telegraph that local councils ‘just don’t want to do it’.
They said some local authorities have made a political decision to ‘keep recycling as simple as possible’, caring less about the rate and making the reforms ‘less palatable’.
Around 60 per cent of councils in England pick up recyclable rubbish from one bin – and councillors across the country have slammed the plans.
In March, councils warned the scheme – which would see all local authorities in the UK required to individually collect paper, cardboard, metal, plastic and glass as well as garden and food waste – was ‘unworkable’ and would cost hundreds of millions of pounds.
If put into action it would mean in theory some households could have seven waste receptacles in what has been described as a ‘national bin service’.
The proposed change was brought about by a government consultation on household and business recycling.
The government has hopes of boosting rates of recycling, which have stayed at around 45 per cent since 2015 – targeting 65 per cent by 2035.
A Defra source said the purpose of the change was the ‘drive up recycling rates’, which separate bins would achieve.
But they insisted that councils will still have some discretion to ‘comingle’ types of recycling if they complete a written assessment.
The Labour Party has said the Conservatives should ‘come clean’ over their plans to improve recycling rates, with shadow environment secretary Jim McMahon saying the government have ‘let neighbourhoods be buried under an avalanche of litter and dumped rubbish’.
He accused the Tories of not telling households their plans for changing waste collection services until after the elections and said Labour would tackle fly-tipping and ‘introduce clean-up squads to ensure those who make the mess, clean the mess’.
The chairman of Grassroots Conservatives, Ed Costelloe, told the Telegraph that Tory voters could revolt if the recycling requirements were imposed.
He told the paper that seven bins is ‘too many’ for normal households who would be ‘angry’ with the changes. He added that it would be ‘unpopular’ and ‘financially stupid’ as some councils are currently doing a good job with bin collections.
He said that while he was in favour of recycling it was ‘barmy’ to need to turn to ‘need a degree to sort your rubbish’.
In order to be exempt from some of the proposed changes, councils would have had to demonstrate that it is ‘not technically or economically practicable’ to collect different forms of recycling waste separately.
Another get out clause would be that they are able to demonstrate there would be no ‘significant environmental benefit in doing so’.
Under the scheme, households would have had to sort waste into seven different containers to stop cross-contamination before they were taken to recycling centres – in a move that was designed to provide consistency across England (file photo of bottles at a recycling centre)
Under the plans, which have now been put on hold, all councils across the UK would be required to individually collect paper, cardboard, metal, plastic and glass as well as garden and food waste (file image)
Councils have warned that the plans to introduce consistent waste collection policies across England could prove unworkable with the District Council’s Network estimating that implementing recycling changes will cost councils almost half-a-billion pounds a year for seven years.
Opposing the proposed changes in 2021, the DCN claimed that analysis carried out ‘estimated that the consistency changes proposed would increase annual service costs for districts in England by over £400 million, when additional capital and running costs were averaged over seven years this figure rises to almost £680 million if all English collection authorities are included.’
They also stressed that their figures ‘do not include costs of delivering new waste receptacles, providing additional depots, communications to the public about changes, nor contractual or training costs’ with the true ongoing costs of the proposals likely to be ‘very high.’
Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey was due to publish her report this month
The TaxPayers’ Alliance hit out at the move in March, saying any attempt to make homeowners pay for it would be ‘unacceptable’.
John O’Connell, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘Waste collection is the most basic service taxpayers expect from their sky high bills. It’s unacceptable for bureaucrats to impose further costs on those who foot the bill. With bills going up, it’s vital that councils deliver value for taxpayers’ hard earned cash.’
Peter Fleming, the Conservative leader of Sevenoaks District Council in Kent, said in March that the reforms would mean more bin lorries on the roads and do nothing to encourage household waste reduction through behavioural change.
‘The idea that standardisation – a national bin service – is the way forward makes absolutely no sense,’ he told the BBC.
Waste management is largely a devolved matter in the UK, with the administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland setting their own policies.
At the moment, councils in England have discretion over how and when waste is collected from households and businesses.
But last year, the Government passed a new law that required a consistent set of recyclable waste materials to be collected separately from all households and businesses.
The Environment Act, which became law in 2021, also requires that food waste collection must take place at least once a week.
The government also wants councils to collect garden waste for free, but give them the right to charge for this beyond the basic service.
However there has been backlash from within the Conservative party over the changes with Bob Blackman, MP for Harrow East and member of the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities parliamentary committee criticising the decision.
Speaking to the Telegraph, he said: ‘It would be of great concern if we end up with huge numbers of types of bins.
‘That would be madness. In urban environments, people already have four sets of bins and to go beyond that would be absolutely crazy.’
A Defra spokesperson told the paper: ‘We want to make recycling easier and ensure that there is a comprehensive, consistent service across England. This will help increase recycled material in the products we buy and boost a growing UK recycling industry.
We have held a public consultation on the proposed changes and will announce further details soon.’