h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

my local council (in south australia) has had severe restrictions on rubbish collection for about a decade. frankly, it is a doorway to corruption and incompetence.

we are provided with a bin that contains 140 litres that is collected weekly. there are additional bins for recyclables and garden refuse of 200 litres that are collected fortnightly. these volumes are consistent with federal guidelines on household waste. no consideration is given to whether one or 10 people live in the household, and indeed, it is impossible to ascertain this information anyway.

an additional 140 litre bin is available on application for special needs. if granted it attracts a cost of $200 per year.

i can take additional refuse to the council tip with no limit. this costs approximately 30 dollars for a small 6x4 trailerload.

i am eligible for up to three kerbiside collections per year of items prohibited from being put into normal rubbish collections. things like washing machines, broken chairs etc. this must not exceed about 2 cubic metres.

why it doesnt work.

we are a large family and despite composting and extensive recycling often struggle to get our refuse into 140 litres. we rely on our single neighbour to accommodate our overflow. he barely fills a quarter of his bin. similarly many of 'the bins in our street are not even half full. the problem is the programme assumes a household of 3 people. which is fine if your house actually HAS 3 people. it is reasonable to assume the private waste management firm tendered on the basis of maximum capacity removal. but averages are not attained simply because the overcapacity in one home does not always transfer to the undercapacity in another. anyone with an overflow who cannot impose upon a neighbour has 2 choices: dump their refuse illegally or pay to take it to the tip. i fail totally to see how either of these things is a net benefit to the environment.

on a per person basis our household produces about HALF the refuse of the national guidelines and yet we are penalised- while small households effectively have no limitation on their capacity to create rubbish and indeed such households have zero incentive to reduce their output.

the net effect is a poll tax.

and since the only way of shifting to a per person measure of rubbish ouput is for governments to maintain invasive records of who lives where and when and their movements and since this is both impossible to do and unacceptable from a liberty perspective, the entire concept is doomed.

it tackles the wrong end of the problem anyway since there is little elasticity for people to reduce their rubbish substantially. if you doubt this then try doing your christmas shopping this year without also bringing large amounts of plastic, cardboard and foam into your home.

what is needed is taxes on companies who package their products in non recyclable materials, or a tax on the source materials for those products.