Waste disposal is one of the big issues in UK local politics. Is it one collection a week, or once a fortnight we need? There’s no doubt where public opinion lies.
My bins have just been emptied — which is why I thought of this blog.
Waste disposal — and recycling — can be managed by contractors but only paid for by tax. As we saw in 1978/79 a world without refuse collection is grim.
The Joy of Tax is that communal service can be provided for the benefit of all at much lower cost than would be possible with any other delivery mechanism.
And I think that makes tax something that’s absolutely critical to our well being.
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As we saw in 1978/79 a world where trades union are too powerful is grim.
As we saw in 2007-09, a world where free market, libertarian ideology is tested is grim… and immensely expensive. It’s just cost us $5trn!
@BenM
And those who’d like to bash unions do so to ensure that there is no countervailing power to oppose the advance of neoliberalism at cost ot the majority
Is that why I’ve got lots of different colour bins, only fortnightly collections and a chip in one to make sure that I comply with all sorts of diktat including not disposing of too much rubbish in one go?
A friend of mine runs a private waste disposal business specifically to collect the rubbish that the council won’t!
I’m looking forward to “Kept a number of banks from going bust and being unable to carry on paying massive bonuses to various already well remunerated employees!” coming up in this series.
Would it have been worse to let those banks go bust and have The Treasury’s billions given directly to compensate depositors, and to lend to the businesses that are now being treated as bad risks by these same benificiaries of government subsidy? Actually, how did this get past the EU/WTO type bodies, and if I was one of the banks that hadn’t benefitted from a massive government injection, why wouldn’t I be kicking up a massive fuss about a bail-out subsidy for my competitors???
“Waste disposal — and recycling — can be managed by contractors but only paid for by tax.”
That’s demonstrably untrue, as evidenced by the collection of commercial waste outside the state sector.
There is a balance. Tax funded refuse collection can tend to increase the volume of waste produced, as there is no price disincentive to waste production, but by the same token, it reduces the incentive to fly-tip. I don’t think there is a uniform “right” answer to this one.
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i know you think i am a medievalist. john seymour, in his seminal book the self-sufficiency handbook, stated that the bin man should never be needed at the home of a smallholder. i know families whose rubbish is limited to 1 bin full a year.
look at your rubbish – it is all the product of globalisation. tax is the stooge of the globalised industrial complex. roads, bins – tax pays for the means of transporting commercial junk to us and disposing of it. but without roads and bins, we’d just be more sustainable. tax supports waste
Tax does not pay for my trash collection in the part of the US I am in. There are three private companies that you can choose from. I get two barrels. One for trash and one for mixed recyclables. The recyclables is picked up once a week. The trash, twice a week. Cost: $35/month.
I guess Fred Fry never sees fly-tipping because he doesn’t live in an area where people find $35/month beyond their means. Those other areas where people have lost jobs and homes must be pretty wretched places. But so long as he’s OK…
Carol, You are correct. I live in a community of home owners where $35 a month is a trivial fee in regards to other fees. Not only that, there is a value associated with the pickup. The neighborhood stays clean and you avoid arrest from getting caught dumping your trash on the side of the road.
Also, keep in mind that in areas of the US where trash collection is covered by taxes, those taxes are based on the value of the property, not the ability of the homeowner to pay. So I am not sure I get your point given that the $35 is an option for how to deal with your trash. The taxes are required.