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Guidance on pilot waste schemes

Glass bottlesThe Government is seeking views on draft guidance for local authorities to pilot schemes to cut household waste through financial incentives.

In response to requests from local authorities, Defra announced in November 2007 that it would allow up to five local authorities in England to pilot incentive schemes. Powers to enable the pilots to go ahead are currently being debated as part of the Climate Change Bill. The first pilots, which will be subject to approval by the Environment Secretary, could start from April 2009.

Waste incentive schemes can charge or reward people according to the amount of unrecycled waste a household produces. Schemes could be rebate-only, offering rewards to those producing the least waste, or could be charge-and-rebate based, levying charges on those producing the most waste and using these to reward households which generate the least. Schemes must be ‘revenue neutral’, so any money raised through charges is paid back as rewards. Local authorities would not be able to keep any of the revenue themselves.

Environment Minister Joan Ruddock will be writing to local authorities, inviting them to come forward with proposals for pilot schemes. The deadline will be 8 weeks after Royal Assent to the Climate Change Bill.

Joan Ruddock said:

“Evidence from countries where these schemes already operate is that charges and rebates of around £50 are enough to change behaviour and deliver real benefits for waste reduction.

“The shape of any pilot scheme will be for local authorities to determine - they know what is most likely to work for them in their own local circumstances. But there are some important principles to observe, for example the need to have a good recycling service in place already, and the need to take account of vulnerable households. This draft guidance will aim to support authorities through the process of delivering a pilot scheme, whatever their ideas may be.

“We want to share our thinking about how waste incentive schemes could work and hear the views of others. I encourage everyone with an interest to contribute to the informal consultation. This is draft guidance at this stage and we will look to revise and improve it in the light of the comments we receive.”

Further information

  • The draft guidance is available from waste.incentives@defra.gsi.gov.uk and will be published shortly on Defra’s website.
  • The deadline for comments on the guidance on a Good Recycling Service is 11 July; and for the rest of the guidance 25 July.
  • Comments and any queries should be sent to waste.incentives@defra.gsi.gov.uk
  • Updated versions of the guidance will be published once the Climate Change Bill has received Royal Assent.

Page published: 19 June 2008