Perhaps you have heard about the possibility of a compulsory recycling scheme being introduced in your area or are simply interested in how this might work. Either way, here is a brief overview of what compulsory recycling might mean.
The Environmental Protection Act (1990) permits local authorities to introduce compulsory recycling schemes if they wish and, whilst exactly how this is carried out may vary, it will probably involve monitoring of kerbside collections to see whether householders are recycling their waste where possible. Compulsory recycling schemes are not intended to penalise people who occasionally put something in their landfill bin instead of recycling, but are aimed at persistent non-recyclers. Ultimately these people could be liable for prosecution.
Following a few successful pilot schemes in some areas of London, the London borough of Barnet became the first to introduce compulsory recycling in 2005 with offenders liable for a £1000 fine if they failed to comply. Waste Watch has pointed out that any such scheme should first ensure that residents have been educated about the benefits of recycling and how to go about it before compulsory recycling is entered into.
There are a number of benefits of recycling which are discussed on some of our other recycling pages. These range from the fact that less landfill space is required to the fact that less energy is often needed to make something from recycled materials than from virgin materials. Check out our Recycling Facts page for some interesting information.
Source: http://www.wastewatch.org.uk 2009
