The proportion of household waste collected which is recycled has more than doubled in the four years Liberal Democrats have been running Luton Council. In March 2003 14% of all domestic waste was recycled and by September 2006 this had increased to 30%.

The Council collects around 100,000 tonnes of domestic waste each year. Currently 30,000 tonnes are recycled and 70,000 tonnes go to landfill dumps. The Council pays £2M a year of Council Tax payers’ money to the government in Landfill Tax. The government has already said it will increase the rate of Landfill Tax by £3 a tonne every year so even if the amount going to landfill stays the same the Landfill Tax bill will go up by £210,000 every year.

Already around 75% of Luton households are using the green and brown bins provided. If everyone recycled their household waste the amount of unnecessary Landfill Tax paid by Luton’s taxpayers would be significantly reduced.

In order to help households recycle even more the Council has introduced ‘Bin Swap Stickers’. These are available from the Town Hall (see below) and allow residents to use the larger black bin for recycling and the smaller green one for ordinary domestic waste.

Starting in April the Council will be introducing a doorstep glass re-cycling scheme.

The refuse & re-cycling team are currently working out where the scheme should start. The intention is to roll out glass recycling across the whole town, more evidence of the importance that Luton’s Liberal Democrat-led administration places on taking practical green action.