Councils spy on householders' bins
It has been discovered, using the powers contained in the Freedom of Information Act, that over two million households have microchips in their bins.
The councils in these areas have installed the devices to spy on homeowners to gain information on how much rubbish is being thrown away by residents. According to the local authorities using the microchips, the statistics gained from the exercise will be used to create an education programme for people to enable them to recycle more and therefore reduce waste.
Concerns have been raised that the technology will make it much easier for councils to impose a tax on residents according to the rubbish they throw away, sometimes called the 'pay-as-you-throw bin tax'. Despite such opposition the government is facing a very real objective to cut waste and must encourage people to recycle much more: at least 40% by 2010 and 50% by 2020.
Source: Internet News 2009
