LAWR

✔ RWM WITH CIWM 2014 PREVIEW Should UK households pay 14 Local Authority Waste & Recycling August 2014 Keep Britain Tidy evidence and policy manager Tim Burns argues why PAYT will get recycling "moving in the right direction". As Wales and Scotland continue to increase recycling rates and reduce waste, England seems to be floundering. Recycling rates in England appear to be flatlining and may even decline this year. We are running out of time to get things moving in the right direction again if we are to reach our 2020 European targets of 50% (and likely 70% targets for 2030). A low-cost magic bullet would be most welcome right now although it is unlikely that one exists. Weekly food waste and dry recycling collections for all, fortnightly recycling collections and the reinvestment in communications would all help but how do we better motivate people to do the right thing? One option, PAYT, has come to be seen as four dirty words by much of the media, politicians and the resource sector. Its mere mention immediately sends people into a barrage of rejection and defensiveness – 'we need to reward people to recycle not punish them', 'it's unfair in times of austerity to start charging people for their waste'. It is understandable that many people in this debate f o r g e t that we all already pay for our waste t h r o u g h our council tax – the only problem is there is no direct link between what you actually waste and what you pay. In fact during our recent 'Recycling Inquiry' with SITA UK (to be published in September) we found a disconnect exists between people and their waste. People who once led thriftier, more resourceful lifestyles now see 'recycling' as the action of putting cans and bottles etc in a box rather than a black sack, and not much thought to recycling beyond their doorstep. In many instances people have no idea what happens next, or whether this is beneficial or a burden for the economy and their community. Not all, but many councils save money when people recycle more and waste less – gone are the landfill tax or the high gate fees for incineration and instead they can actually get some income for the materials collected. Why not pass on this income to residents directly? PAYT has been shown to be very successful on the continent for both recycling and waste prevention and is relatively cheap to operate once set up. This compares to 'reward' incentive schemes that have had mixed successes in increasing recycling, whilst costing more in implementation than the savings they deliver for local authorities. But that doesn't get around the sceptics towards pay as you throw, so what can be done? Our Recycling Inquiry showed that people didn't like the sound of pay as you throw anymore than the politicians. However when we described an alternative or variation of the scheme the same people participating were very positive. In this scheme instead of 'PAYT' households that reduced their waste and recycled more receive a direct rebate, or payback in their council tax at the end of the year. The idea is to be cost neutral to the council but to pass on savings from recycling more and reducing waste directly to households in a more positive way. We tested this in a representative poll of the public across England and found that 89% of respondents believed that council tax rebates would be an effective approach to increase recycling. So a substantial percentage of the public would support council tax rebates. Even though it is effectively paying for your waste, the reframing of this as a rebate is effectively viewed as a carrot rather than a stick. We would need to further develop and test this idea but it has great potential to reduce waste and simultaneously increase recycling if we get it right. Therefore we would urge the sector, political parties and the media to re-engage and consider trialling council tax paybacks in England beyond 2015. The 2020 Conservative Group backed it in their recent report and its potential positive benefits for both preventing waste and getting recycling in England moving again to reach our 2020 targets are overwhelming. Birmingham City Council is introducing a pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) scheme for commercial waste are stalling in England and need to be stimulated. Liz Gyekye asks two industry leaders whether YES " Pay as you throw has come to be seen as four dirty words by much of the media, politicians and the resource sector " ✔ Should UK households pay Birmingham City Council is introducing a pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) scheme for commercial waste are stalling in England and need to be stimulated. Liz Gyekye asks two industry leaders whether

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