The new recycling reward scheme- will it work?

This week the new government announced plans to reward people for recycling- but will this actually achieve the desired aim of drastically cutting the amount of rubbish going to landfill?

Communities minister Eric Pickles announced in The Guardian that he would be scrapping what he called Labours’ proposed “exorbitant”  “bin taxes” suggesting they would fuel “fly-tipping, backyard burning and more trips to the dump as people tried to avoid paying the tax.”

He neglected to tell the full story of Labour’s plans which the BBC explained more thoroughly:

“Labour had proposed giving households which recycled the most rubbish and left the least in their bin a rebate, while charging those who put out the most non-recycled rubbish.”

Powers to allow councils to trial the scheme were included in the Climate Change Act, however councils claimed they hadn’t been told how the scheme would operate and none applied.

As to the new government’s recycling scheme, it has been trialled by Windsor and Maidenhead Council, where Mr. Pickles claimed recycling had risen by 35%.

The scheme involves people’s recycling bins being weighed and points being added to their account, which can then be spent at Cineworld, Coffee Republic or M&S, or be donated to local schools. Households can earn up to £135 worth of points a year.

In order to meet EU targets by 2020, landfill waste in the UK must be reduced by almost two thirds. Do you think this new scheme would make enough of a difference? Are people are more likely to recycle with this rewards on offer?