Fly tipping is on the increase across the UK. This illegal dumping of rubbish costs taxpayers about £50m a year in clean-up costs, and landowners another £50m. The nation's councils currently clear up 187,500 tons of illegally dumped waste each year. Lobbyists claim the problem will only escalate as the Government forces more and more households to reduce their annual volume of waste.
Under EU law the Government must reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal waste (BMW) being sent to landfills. BMW includes materials like paper, plastics, metals (such as aluminium cans) and tyres. In 2005/06 the UK landfilled an estimated 12.4 million tonnes of BMW. This volume is inflated by one of the EU 's lowest rate of recycling.
The UK currently recycles about one third of its glass. Switzerland and the Netherlands have recycling rates as high as 80%. The UK has a plastics recycling rate of 3%. In Germany the rate is 70%. When Garry and I arrived in London we were surprised to find that our Council didn't collect recyclable waste from local households. We'd been use to weekly collections in Australia for more than a decade. Weekly collection finally began in our area 18 months ago.
To met EU targets, the Government introduced the Waste Emissions and Trading Act in 2003. The Act set allowances until 2020 for the annual volume of biodegradable waste sent to landfill by every Council. A penalty of £150 is imposed on Councils for every tonne of waste dumped in excess of their permissable allowance. In response, Councils have been introducing a range of new policies including bin taxes, smaller bins and a shift to fortnightly collection.
These measures are having an impact. The proportion of municipal waste recycled or composted climbed from 27.1% to 30.7% last year. The Government hopes to increase the nation's recycling rate to 33% by 2015. As Councils tighten up their waste collection practices, incidents of fly-tipping are said to be on the increase. I've certainly noticed more bags of rubbish piled around public bins - particularly towards the tail end of the weekend.
These changes have also proven controversial. Boris Johnson, the new mayor of London, even campaigned this month on a promise to reverse local plans to introduce a bin tax. Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has also promised to rethink such taxes. It seems the UK has a lot to learn about the virtues of recycling and waste management.
Under EU law the Government must reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal waste (BMW) being sent to landfills. BMW includes materials like paper, plastics, metals (such as aluminium cans) and tyres. In 2005/06 the UK landfilled an estimated 12.4 million tonnes of BMW. This volume is inflated by one of the EU 's lowest rate of recycling.
The UK currently recycles about one third of its glass. Switzerland and the Netherlands have recycling rates as high as 80%. The UK has a plastics recycling rate of 3%. In Germany the rate is 70%. When Garry and I arrived in London we were surprised to find that our Council didn't collect recyclable waste from local households. We'd been use to weekly collections in Australia for more than a decade. Weekly collection finally began in our area 18 months ago.
To met EU targets, the Government introduced the Waste Emissions and Trading Act in 2003. The Act set allowances until 2020 for the annual volume of biodegradable waste sent to landfill by every Council. A penalty of £150 is imposed on Councils for every tonne of waste dumped in excess of their permissable allowance. In response, Councils have been introducing a range of new policies including bin taxes, smaller bins and a shift to fortnightly collection.
These measures are having an impact. The proportion of municipal waste recycled or composted climbed from 27.1% to 30.7% last year. The Government hopes to increase the nation's recycling rate to 33% by 2015. As Councils tighten up their waste collection practices, incidents of fly-tipping are said to be on the increase. I've certainly noticed more bags of rubbish piled around public bins - particularly towards the tail end of the weekend.
These changes have also proven controversial. Boris Johnson, the new mayor of London, even campaigned this month on a promise to reverse local plans to introduce a bin tax. Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has also promised to rethink such taxes. It seems the UK has a lot to learn about the virtues of recycling and waste management.
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