The Black Bag Tax

‘The Black Bag Tax’ (BBT)

The UK produces more than 100 million tonnes of waste every year; one tonne is about the weight of a small car. In less than two hours, the waste we produce would fill the Albert Hall in London, every eight months it would fill Lake Windermere, the largest and deepest lake in England. Waste in the UK is definitely an issue that needs attending to. Every year we produce 3% more waste than the year before. You may argue that this does not seem like much, however it means that within 20-25 years our waste production levels will have doubled. Therefore my tax proposition is directly related to household waste. I call it the ‘The Black Bag Tax’, and to put it simply, it is a tax on the number of rubbish bags a household produces.

The production of rubbish is a fairly natural process. Every household will generate some amount of waste. Therefore it seems harsh to impose the ‘BBT’ on everyone. The guidelines for this tax are as follows:

* Every person is granted one bag of rubbish every 2 weeks. (Excludes those under the age of 10). This means that a family of 4 people will be able to produce 4 bags of rubbish across a 2 week period as long as everyone is above the age of 10. If there are 4 family members and one member is under the age of 10, they will be granted 3 bags per fortnight.

* Those that produce more than their allocated number of bags will be taxed. The tax rate is approximately £5 per extra black bag. However the extent to which a bag is filled will be taken into account. If an extra bag is only half full, it is likely that they will only be taxed half of the £5 figure. The tax imposed will be relative to the amount of extra waste produced, not just on the number of bags. Rubbish collectors will be handed the duty to determine the tax that will be imposed on excess waste. Also to avoid people cramming black bags to avoid paying for an extra bag, these will also be inspected.

* It is important to remember that...