I think my buttons got pushed

Is the rubbish tax a rubbish tax?

Pay for what you use... or in this case.. refuse... no problem (unless you are a politician. Ask Mrs. T about the Poll Tax).

Pay on top of what you are paying already.... big problem. That is not an economic incentive. That is a very uneconomic disincentive. And smacks of yet another not very stealthy tax grab under the guise of green to try and prop up runaway public spending on failed or inefficient systems, policies and campaigns (how many waste quangos dispensing how much to ad agencies do we now have?), imposed on those few making something (plus the poor, pensioners, etc) to support those who advise, empire-build (how many compost-awareness officers do we need?) assess, monitor, target-meet and beancount's gold-plated pensions and index-linked salaries.

While I can accept and admire the wisdom of such an approach and the obvious success elsewhere, I no longer have any faith in the self-interested, dis-jointed central and local authority systems and knee-jerk policy-addicted wonks who will try and fail make it all happen fairly, sensibly and efficiently, without mainly lining the pockets of those most able and least deserving.

I have a big house. I can stack as many RE-Boxes as the council issues in my cellar. My mum has a combo kitchen/lounge/dining area. So she needs to get stuff out as simply and quickly as possible. How do we make that work? It has to, but I doubt the fine-first brigade cares so long as they can whack a chip in a bin or give a dust-person the power to impose charges and fines on a par with a court of law.

I write this as one who produces almost no waste beyond that recycled and composted because I make things out of it using sites such as Junkk.com, which truly believes that you incentivise with genuine re:wards. A lesson those in power seem to have completely overlooked.

I have written to the editor:

Dear Sir,

We need to get a handle on waste.

But what amazes me is the massive gap between those who are being asked to address it (the public), those staked to help them (gov, local gov and NGOs such as WRAP, etc).

I have blogged on this further on your pages and my own site, and offer this cut-down for hard copy:

Pay for what you use... or in this case.. refuse... no problem.

Pay on top of what you are paying already.... big problem. That is not an economic incentive. That is a very uneconomic disincentive. And smacks of yet another not very stealthy tax grab under the guise of green to try and prop up runaway public spending on failed or inefficient systems, policies and campaigns to support those who advise, empire-build assess, monitor, target-meet and beancount.

While I can accept and admire the wisdom of such an approach and the obvious success elsewhere, I no longer have any faith in the systems and knee-jerk policy-addicted attempts to make it all happen fairly, sensibly and efficiently, without mainly lining the pockets of those most able and least deserving.

It has to be made to work, but I doubt the fine-first brigade cares so long as they can whack a chip in a bin or give a dust-person the power to impose charges and fines on a par with a court of law.

If you'd like to discuss any further on how the war on waste is being fought more between us than on it, I'd be happy to share.

Telegraph - Common sense: a virtue Labour lacks