Rationed rubbish: Residents of Broxbourne, Hampshire, face a bag quota regime where they are permitted only 80 refuse sacks per year. |
Families face being rationed to 80 bags of rubbish a year. Households throwing away more waste will have to take it to the tip or buy a limited number of extra bags. The scheme is already in use with one council, is being introduced by another and is under consideration by up to 180 more. The quotas are the latest attempt by local authorities to cut down on waste to meet EU targets. Doretta Cocks, of the Campaign for Weekly Waste Collections, said: ‘This is rationing. Some councils with fortnightly collections and wheelie bins are already doing it by reducing the size of their wheelie bins. “They must think we are idiots. How can they claim to be concerned for the environment when they tell people to drive to the local tip? And what do you do if you don’t have a car? Walk?” The quotas fly in the face of vows from ministers to end such heavy-handedness. The bag quota regime is to be imposed by the Tory-led council in Wokingham, Berkshire, and is already in operation in Broxbourne in Hertfordshire. Many of the 180 councils that still offer unrestricted weekly rubbish collections are watching the trial. Wokingham officials have told residents that 75-litre sacks will be given to each household and anything not left in them will not be collected. “Every household will receive 80 bags every year,” it said. “You can buy extra bags in rolls of ten but this will be deterred as a general practice.” Families of five will get 100 rubbish bags a year and households of six or more will get 120. A council spokesman said yesterday that those who cannot keep to their quota will have to drive to municipal tips to get rid of their rubbish. Residents will have a weekly recycling collection limited to cans, paper and card, plastic bottles and aerosols. Plastic packaging, tinfoil packaging and glass including bottles must either go with the general waste or be taken to recycling points. Green waste pick-ups cost an extra £60 a year. The council, which charges a Band D council tax of £1,462 a year, has told residents it will save £922,000 a year under the new system. There will be no local consultation before it is introduced next April. (Read by Renee Haines. Renee Haines is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
英國(guó)家庭面臨“每年只能扔80袋垃圾”的限令。扔的垃圾超過(guò)80袋的家庭得自己將多余的垃圾送到垃圾站去,或是另外花錢(qián)買(mǎi)數(shù)量有限的垃圾袋。 目前已經(jīng)有一個(gè)地方的市政廳在實(shí)行該計(jì)劃,有一個(gè)市政廳引進(jìn)了該計(jì)劃,還有180多個(gè)市政廳在考慮這項(xiàng)計(jì)劃。這個(gè)垃圾配額計(jì)劃是地方政府為了減少垃圾量而進(jìn)行的最新嘗試,以達(dá)到歐盟定下的目標(biāo)。 每周垃圾收集運(yùn)動(dòng)的多雷塔?科克斯說(shuō):“原來(lái)這就叫限額配給。有的地方政府原本是每隔兩周用有輪的大垃圾筒來(lái)收集垃圾的,但是現(xiàn)在他們已經(jīng)開(kāi)始通過(guò)使用更小的垃圾筒來(lái)控制配給了?!?/p> 科克斯接著說(shuō):“他們當(dāng)我們是傻瓜嗎?他們叫人們自己開(kāi)車(chē)將垃圾送到當(dāng)?shù)氐睦?,然后還聲稱(chēng)自己關(guān)心環(huán)境?那如果你沒(méi)有車(chē)怎么辦?走過(guò)去嗎?” 該配額計(jì)劃全然不顧部長(zhǎng)們要求停止這種強(qiáng)制行為的呼聲。 伯克郡沃金厄姆區(qū)市政廳即將執(zhí)行垃圾袋配額制度,該市政廳是由保守黨領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的。赫特福德郡的布羅克斯伯恩市已經(jīng)實(shí)施了該制度。 在180個(gè)現(xiàn)在仍實(shí)行每周一次無(wú)限制垃圾收集制度的地方市政廳中,很多正在觀望試驗(yàn)的結(jié)果如何。 沃金厄姆的官員們告訴市民說(shuō)將發(fā)給每戶(hù)容量為75公升的垃圾袋,政府不會(huì)收袋子以外的垃圾。 沃金厄姆的官員說(shuō):“每年每戶(hù)將收到80個(gè)垃圾袋,你可以買(mǎi)額外的袋子,一卷十個(gè),但是我們不鼓勵(lì)這種做法?!?/p> 五口之家每年能得到100個(gè)袋子,六口以上的人家能得到120個(gè)。沃金厄姆市政廳發(fā)言人昨天稱(chēng),如果誰(shuí)扔的垃圾量超過(guò)配額,那么他得自己開(kāi)車(chē)到市垃圾站去扔垃圾。 市民可以每周進(jìn)行一次可回收垃圾收集,這些垃圾包括易拉罐、紙和卡片、塑料瓶以及噴霧器。 塑料包裝、錫紙包裝和玻璃(包括玻璃瓶)可以歸到普通垃圾里或者送到垃圾回收點(diǎn)去。綠色垃圾回收每年需要額外支付60英鎊。 沃金厄姆市政廳每年向市民收取1462英鎊的D級(jí)市政稅,他們聲稱(chēng)新制度每年能為市政廳節(jié)省92.2萬(wàn)英鎊。市政廳稱(chēng)在明年四月份引進(jìn)該計(jì)劃之前,地方政府將不接受任何咨詢(xún)。 相關(guān)閱讀 英國(guó)研制出一次性水溶婚紗 時(shí)尚且環(huán)保 (中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津 崔旭燕 編輯:陳丹妮) |
Vocabulary: tip: a place where you can take rubbish/garbage and leave it(垃圾場(chǎng);垃圾堆) fortnightly: happening once a fortnight(兩星期一次的) fly in the face of something: 悍然不顧;公然違抗;與……相悖 heavy-handedness: 高壓手段 Tory: of or relating to the British Conservative Party or its supporters(英國(guó)保守黨的,保守黨人) deter: to make somebody decide not to do something or continue doing something, especially by making them understand the difficulties and unpleasant results of their actions(制止;阻止;威懾;使不敢) aerosol: a metal container in which a liquid such as paint or hairspray is kept under pressure and released as a spray (噴油漆、頭發(fā)定型劑等的)噴霧器,霧化器;氣霧劑;氣溶膠 |