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I was fined £50 for recycling my newspapers
By MARTIN DELGADO
Last updated at 21:24pm on 2nd December 2006

When Linda Sims left a bag of newspapers next to a 'locked' recycling bin, she believed she was doing her bit for the environment.

But the council thought otherwise - and after watching her on CCTV, it fined her for littering.

Mrs Sims, 42, had gone to the open-air site to recycle her newspapers, some cardboard and some old shoes.

She put the cardboard and shoes in the correct containers. But when she tried to do the same with the newspapers, she found a padlock on the lid of the bin.

Rather than take the papers home again, she left them on the ground for collection, making sure the two carrier bags couldn't fall over.

However, every detail of her visit to the site near her home in Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, was recorded, including her car registration number.

Despite her good intentions, council officials decided that she was 'littering not recycling' and demanded her details from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.

Two days later, she received a £50 fixed-penalty notice through the post. It warned that failure to pay within 14 days could lead to prosecution and a fine of up to £2,500.

Mrs Sims, an insurance worker who is married to a police officer, said last night: "I spent ten or 15 minutes flattening the cardboard before I put it in the container. But I was defeated when I got to the newspaper bin. I saw the padlock and assumed someone had either locked it by mistake or that the bin was full.

"I only discovered afterwards that the padlock was to stop the main flap being opened and that I could have lifted the lid.

"It is quite ridiculous to suggest I am a fly-tipper. It was a genuine mistake but the council won't listen to reason. They are using bullying tactics to make people pay and swell their coffers.

"I was easy to trace as I am a law-abiding citizen and my car is insured, taxed and has an MoT certificate."

A Broxbourne council spokesman said: "While Mrs Sims's concerns are fully appreciated by the council, it has statutory duties placed on it on waste disposal and fly-tipping."

The DVLA said local authorities have the right to apply for personal information about a driver if they 'have a purpose associated with the investigation of an offence'.

'Pay As You Throw' Plan
Updated: 11:15, Monday January 08, 2007

Householders who do not recycle could be forced to pay more to have their rubbish taken away.

The Local Government Association has launched a new campaign to demand a radical overhaul of the way rubbish is dealt with.

The news coincides with Sky News' Green Britain week - a look at climate change in the UK.

The LGA, which represents 400 councils in England and Wales, wants local authorities to have the power to impose a separate charge for non-recyclable waste collection.

Households that produce less rubbish would have their council tax cut.

Councillor Paul Bettison, chairman of the LGA's Environment Board, said: "For decades people have been used to being able to throw their rubbish away without worrying about the consequences.

"Those days are now over. Britain is the dustbin of Europe with more rubbish being thrown into landfill than any other country on the continent."

Councils are under pressure because they face fines of up to £150 per tonne of waste that ends up in landfills.

The LGA also wants manufacturers to contribute to the cost of disposing of single use items like nappies, batteries and disposable cameras.

UK households send almost 27 million tonnes of rubbish to landfill every year, the equivalent of almost half a tonne for every home in the country.

Germany, which has a population 25% larger than the UK, disposes of less than half the amount of rubbish into the ground.

The LGA estimates that, on current trends, the country will run out of landfill space in less than nine years.

just do as i am already doing it's so simple..................
i bought a garden incinerator and now burn ALL Flammable rubbish, you should see the black smoke LOL
another plus is that we now only need to put our wheelie bin out once a Month, if that!

beat them at their own game chaps, burning your rubbish is just like sticking two fingers up at the local council nutters!