Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Pilot schemes to go ahead using microchips in wheelie bins

The government today insisted that pilot schemes to test bin taxes using wheelie bins with microchips will go ahead despite a decision to scrap them by the first council to try the scheme. (link via guardian.co.uk) I don't get it. How can the government decide to go ahead with a scheme after a test scheme failed by a council in Norfolk, England? Why bother with testing the scheme if the government is going to ignore the results? I think everyone had predicted a huge increase in flytipping (which there was) and I'm sure most people aren't surprised to hear about "a combination of electrical, data, mechanical and hydraulic faults." Weighing every wheelie bin and recording the results sounds way too fiddly and unreliable for it to ever be efficient and reliable. And this was only one area, so imagine the problems on a country-wide scale! The other factor which I think will become more and more apparent if this scheme goes ahead, will be the problem with dishonest people who surreptitiously dump their rubbish in someone elses bin. (And locks on the wheelie bins would never work - unless you were always available to unlock it just before the bin is emptied!) I think the whole scheme is fraught with problems. Recycling to reduce waste is to be encouraged but I don't agree with a scheme to weigh our rubbish bins. What do you think of the chip-in-bin system to record the weight of your bin? Do you recycle? If not, would this system encourage you to recycle?

2 comments:

  1. That's all too typical of this government. It'll be a complete waste of (our)money, that could be far better spent, if it does go ahead. I share a large bin with five other flats so goodness knows what we'd end up with!
    It seems almost like panic measures to conform with EU directives as this country has, once again, done far too little too late. xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. You're right - it is typical of this government. It's yet another scheme that will waste taxpayer's money plus it will actually cause more problems (such as flytipping) and as you say, there is the problem of how to make the scheme work when the bins are shared by people in flats such as in your situation.

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.