Tax discount for residents who recycle their rubbish

People who recycle their rubbish will get £5 off their council tax under a scheme announced by Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, yesterday.

The initiative, which is expected to be introduced next year, follows a pilot in the London Borough of Brent which succeeded in doubling the amount of rubbish recycled.

Households will be given 25-litre plastic boxes or bags and if they fill them once every two weeks they will receive a discount ontheir council tax bill.

Borough councils will have a financial incentive to join in because they will be able to sell the rubbish for recycling and cut their landfill tax bills. Each council participating in the scheme will be able to raise its council tax by £5 a year. But households which meet their recycling quota will get £10 off their bill – a net saving of £5.

London recycles just 8 per cent of its rubbish, while Berlin recycles 40 per cent. Mr Livingstone has pledged to increase the level to 25 per cent.

Darren Johnson, the Green party's leader in the London Assembly, welcomed the initiative, but said more needed to be done to improve London's "dirty" image.