Philip Stott rightly drew attention in Saturday's Times to another step on the nation's path to politically correct serfdom. From today, Barnet council in north London is to fine householders who commit the crime of failing to deposit their rubbish in the correct recycling container. Stott drove a refuse lorry through the whole ideology of recycling, with reality checks like this:

'How many of us have religiously washed out that green wine bottle, travelled miles by car to our nearest recycling centre — with all the environmental downsides associated with such short journeys — only to find that the holes are full to overflowing with sticky, half-smashed bottles? It is galling to discover that the UK has a green glass mountain. Despite trying to use this in road building, some 80,000 tonnes of crushed green cullet has to be exported to places such as South America to avoid being dumped in landfill — hardly great news for those worried about the effect of long-haul exports on global warming.'

What is really staggering is that when it comes to beggars on the streets, antisocial children or buggery on Hampstead Heath, nothing is done for fear of being 'authoritarian' or 'oppressive'; yet fail to put your tin can into the approved receptacle, and it'll be the knock on the door and a £1000 fine. Civic insanity.

Posted by melanie at March 29, 2004