Householders to pay more tax to sort out rubbish

Under the plans to increase recycling, the town's big wheelie bins would be replaced by smaller ones.

Houses would also get a second bin, just for their garden waste. And they could be made to sort out plastic, glass, tins and paper for kerbside collection.

The suggested changes are part of a new county and districts' draft waste policy for the next 20 years, to meet government demands to cut back on waste dumping.

Wycombe district, which includes Marlow, has to increase the amount it recycles from 11 per cent now, to 20 per cent by 2003 and 30 per cent by 2005.

Marlow is one of the areas that would be targeted for collecting green waste was it is believed people are more likely to take part there.

Wycombe District Council cabinet member for customer services, Bill Bendyshe-Brown, said the costs of the proposed changes would be too high.

Introducing bins for green waste in the district would cost about £1.5 million, plus £1 million running costs.

Smaller bins would cost almost £1 million. Kerbside collections will cost £195,000, plus almost £1 million to run.

This is vastly more than costs facing other districts.

Cllr Bendyshe-Brown said people would not be prepared to put up with smaller wheelie bins and called the idea 'political suicide'.

Household waste reclamation centres (HWRC) where people bring their own rubbish will be upgraded. High Heavens in Booker would make compost and might be altered to include a waste transfer station, where rubbish would bee collected sorted and taken away.

Beaconsfield HWRC will be closed and a new site found; and there will be at least one more centre somewhere in the county.

The capacity of sites at Chesham and Amersham will increase.

County waste officer Phil Barnes said: "All our sites were designed before recycling became important. Recycling needs more space."

Eventually rubbish that is not recycled, re-used or made into compost will be taken away and incinerated, rather than dumped in landfill sites.