City looks at cash for trash incentives

CONTROVERSIAL microchips in bins have been ruled out by council bosses, but households could be offered cash rewards in a new bid to encourage more people in the Capital to recycle.

• Opponents say the city's recycling operation could turn into a nightmare

The council said it was looking at a number of options used elsewhere in the UK as it investigates ways of reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill.

Officials have looked at a number of incentive schemes in England, where residents are rewarded depending on how much waste they put out for municipal recycling.

• Is offering people incentives to recycle more a good idea? Vote here

It comes after the council said it would begin collecting food waste for recycling from next year in a bid to cut its multi-million-pound landfill tax bill.

Among the options being looked at are incentives schemes such as one used by Newcastle City Council to reward householders with cash for recycling. The Don't Bin It, Win It campaign saw residents entered into draws with prizes up to 1000 if they put out their waste for recycle.

Council officials in Edinburgh believe such an initiative could be paid for here thanks to savings made in landfill tax. The council's bill is set to rise to 12 million a year by 2014, with tough new Scottish Government targets that will see a ban on binning biodegradable waste brought in by 2017.

The council said incentive schemes had seen recycling levels increase by 35 per cent in other parts of the UK. But Tory councillor Cameron Rose there was a danger that Edinburgh's recycling operation could turn into a "nightmare".

He said: "I'm worried that this is going to turn recycling into a bureaucratic and administrative nightmare.

"There's a growing willingness to recycle, but I'm worried that we're heading towards a very inefficient system."

The council has ruled out the use of controversial microchips, which monitor how much individual residents have recycled.

In Windsor, a pioneering "pay as you throw" RecycleBank scheme saw locals given reward points at participating retailers based on how much waste they collected.

However, the scheme was criticised as it rewarded people who produced more waste.

A council spokeswoman said: "This report was written in response to a council motion and looks at different incentive schemes across the UK. We are always looking at new ideas, but don't have any current plans to implement any schemes at the moment."

A spokesman for Zero Waste Scotland added: "If we are to make progress towards Scotland's zero waste targets then it needs to be easy for people to do the right thing and recycle more."