Bin tax scheme put on the scrapheap

Plans for a "pay as you throw" bin tax have been scrapped as the Government looks to reward families who recycle rubbish instead.

The Communities Secretary, Eric Pickles, confirmed that the scheme to charge households by the weight of their rubbish would not go ahead. Instead, he said that families should be rewarded for the amount they recycle. Such a scheme already operates in Windsor and Maidenhead where households get vouchers to spend in shops or leisure facilities.

He told BBC Radio 4's The World at One: "What we are looking to do is make this country one of the green economies of Europe and to do that we need to increase our recycling rate. We believe this incentive scheme is the best way of doing that."

Shadow Environment Secretary, Hilary Benn, said: "Everyone knows we need to send much less to landfill. We would like to know whether the coalition supports Labour's plan to stop certain materials from going to landfill?"