Osborne: we will pay people to recycle
Shadow Chancellor unveils Tory plans for 'green economic recovery'
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The Treasury would implement radical measures to ensure a "green recovery" if the Conservatives win the general election, George Osborne will pledge today.
The shadow Chancellor will promise that the public would be "paid" to recycle their rubbish to keep down landfill costs; the Government would cut its own carbon emissions by 10 per cent in its first year; set up a "green investment bank" to finance green technology firms and create "green ISAs" so savers could invest tax-free in environmentally-friendly industries.
Mr Osborne's speech in London is designed to reassure environmental groups who fear David Cameron has cooled on the green agenda he championed after becoming Tory leader.
He will pledge to expand American-style schemes to give householders a financial incentive to recycle. In a pilot scheme run by Windsor and Maidenhead council, the average family is on course to receive vouchers worth £130 a year.
Writing in The Independent today, Mr Osborne says the Treasury "has often been at best indifferent and at worst obstructive" on the environment. It must become part of the answer instead of part of the problem, he says, adding: "Instead of the Treasury blocking green reform, I want a Conservative Treasury to be in lead of developing the low carbon economy and financing a green recovery."
The Tories say the Treasury would take charge of enforcing government's most ambitious target for reducing its own emissions. Departments would see their energy budgets cut if they did not deliver.
The 10 per cent reduction would save up to £300m a year in energy costs. Companies such as BT, Tesco and B&Q have pledged to advise an incoming Tory government on how to achieve the target.
Yesterday, the leaders of the three main parties competed for the business vote when they addressed the annual conference of the Confederation of British Industry in London.
Gordon Brown said it would be too dangerous to switch off the "life support" for the economy through fiscal stimulus. He mocked the Tories' conversion to a "go for growth" strategy as a "soundbite without substance".
Mr Cameron said his administration would be judged on whether it got Britain out of its economic mess. "If we build lasting and sustainable growth and deal with the deficit, we will be a success. If we don't, we won't," he said.
Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, said the public was being presented with a "false choice".
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It amounts to much the same thing, it just goes over better with the average voter. The money to pay for the recycling is going to come out of taxation somewhere else. An average individual who recycles will probably be neither better nor worse off, however those that don't will be worse off. However it seems more like a carrot and less like a stick!
How do the Carbon taxes help the planet.
Only if the revenue raised is hypothecated for spending on a particular thing that actually helps/changes something. However there's pretty much zero change of getting the Treasury to agree to that, as it would mean a reduction in the power of the Treasury over other departments.
Once all cars are fitted with a meter to measure every mile we do,
Don't give them ideas ... They'd love to log all of that in a database somewhere, probably whilst piously announcing that "only the guilty have something to hide" whilst simultaneously not publishing their own travels.
The whole concept seems to miss the transactional analysis as does flying to 'GREEN" events or carbon ofsets.
It would be better to abstain in the foirst place.Gross over consumption is at the heart.It is estimated a third of food is wasted .
Perhaps it alays was but compost and pig slop used to be the recyled loop instead of huge wheelie bins and infills of rot.
Over packaging just look at the Christmas gift packs for him and her
To wrap 25cc of cologne a huge bottle then card then styrofoam then outer glossy paper then the cellophane then a fancy designer bag.
This extravagance may be justified as once year for the jew nailed to the tree or pagan Yule ferility to up the spiris.
However this level of packaging can be seen on confectionary,cakes and even some fruits,Tax packs and charge consumers extra.
Charging for disposal encourages fly tipping andd hazardous disposal of not just engine oil but paints etc.
plan is buy less
Add disposal cost at point of sale
Request trade be responsible for hazardous waste like fridges aircon and aerosols.
Train unemployed to learn how to repair electrical adhousehold items.Unlike the 3rd world I see skips full of easily repaired iems.
Finance above with levy on luxury items esp those with heavy recycling costs like cars fridges and asbestos
So instead thank Osborne for a decent idea instead of rushing to pour cold water over it.
However when it comes to the subject of recycling I find it quite odd that Osborne (& labour 5th column) is suggesting the voucher system, afte all much of the recycling problems are created by the double & treble packaging plus high profile logo carrier bags the large retail companies insist we use, with the draconian Environmental Dept food reg's part of the doble act.
Surely Osborne is rewarding the larger companies for creating this problem by offering the vouchers that must be used in their stores, is this what is meant by a vicious circle?
And how does this promote shopping locally, not using car journeys to these out of town & city centre where the big boys await to relieve you of your cash & of course the Ossie voucher, how does it promote using the small local high street outlets. Its just another nail in the coffin of the small retailer who quite often offer goods packaged in recycleable (paper) bags etc.
Once this scheme is shown quite aptly for what it is, rubbish we''ll no doubt hear the claim to be 'thinking outside the box' personally I'd nail it shut the man's an idiot & is the biggest liability to the Tories being elected, perhaps Mandy has realised this & why Ossie has been left to pontificate unchallenged by the Darkest of the Dark.
Don't know about vouchers smacks more of tokenism to me.
If nothing else, it gets around a fundamental problem with taxing waste in that that encourages fly-tipping.
But, realistically, we need to do much more to reduce the about of waste in the first place, by
1. increasing the life of products, so that they don't need to be replaced so often (making products usually is the major part of a products life-cycle energy use) perhaps by having a 'life-rating' system like the energy-rating system
2. increasing the tax on fashionable things - so they aren't thrown away because they're 'unfashionable' (which could involve compelling companies to continue supporting their goods, like computer printers and operating systems, shavers, etc.)
3. reducing the tax on energy-efficient products relative to energy-inefficient ones, which could include spare parts...
He's also right that the Treasury is part of the problem!
PersonallyI recycle less than my neighbour because I have less to recycle. I refuse to buy stuff with a lot of packaging. This idiotic scheme would encourage me and the supermarkets to use more and more packaging, not less!
Wow. Now that's what I call cautious journalism.
Congrats, Indy!
After all MacBrown said we were 50 days from disaster if the 'Copenhagen thingy' wasn't taken seriously etc etc, with no resolution expected & Obama yet to commit to attending we're now 14 days away from catastrophe, given the obvious but hidden disagreements perhaps MacBrown meant cacophony.
But then again MacBrown did say there were to be no more boom & bust, that we were best placed of any economy to ride the maelstrom, he/labour did promise a referendum on Lisbon etc etc etc, perhaps the catastrophe was in reference to the next election who knows? One things for certain Gordie will be flying in for another 'photo op'
The Indy does seem to be ultra cautious in almost everything of late, I've just had a tongue in cheek post about the US & central America removed, although I suspect it had more to do with the mention of an imaginery Simmone Cowelluero than the political/economic point made.
The boy is a fool. Do not pay people to recycle - as most people are recycling already. Instead Fine those that don't recycle.
Then create a packaging tax - especially for single use plastic bags - This way the manufactureres and retailers have an incentive not to put so much crap into the enviroment - especially as nearly all packaging is discarded as soon as the product has been opened.
This will solve not only the unemployment situation but collect recycleable materials-- AND horse manure for our allotment holders
Speaking of manure----
Oh wait a minute! He didn't say 'cash', it will be vouchers! M&S, Currys, B&Q?
-10 Trust Points.
This is a sorry day for a newspaper that has turned itself into a 'Speakers Corner' for climate change fanatics, a sorry day for journalism as practiced here on the Indie and I am sad to say a good reason not to trust this newspaper on the topic of climate change.
How are we ever going to get a balanced view of climate change when newspapers like the Indie choose to represent one side of the argument to the extent they will default on their prime duty to report.
Any sane person in possession of the scientific facts is aware that greenhouse gasses are changing the climate.
These large recycling centres are viable businesses and they sell bailed up aluminium, plastic and paper back to large companies for a nice profit, this means that the facility can actually offer local businesses large incentives to start recycling.
Check out my article on our local Material Recover Facility here;
Inside the Recycling Process with EcoRewards
Maybe if the government can encourage creation of a couple of large scale recycling centres like the one above then paying members of the public to recycle will be big business!