I wasn't sure whether to be amused or angry when I first learned of the government giving consideration to taxing rubbish collections as part of council tax reforms for England and Wales (and Scotland?). In principle, it would be a good incentive for people to minimise the waste they send to our already oversized landfills, but only if it's done right. Back in April 2005 I'm sure I recall Belfast City Council saying that every household in Belfast would have a blue recycling bin by the end of 2005. Guess what: they didn't - and we still don't. (They're now saying the end of 2006)

A cynic might question if the government is simply looking for an easy way to raise some extra tax revenue and thinks they will have an easy ride with a 'green' tax. Let's face it, given the Tories recent fuss over the environment, they're not going to oppose it for fear they be lablled environmentally unfriendly - and the Lib Dems will of course be delighted at the prospect of extra revenue and punishing pollution in one foul swoop.

In the real world though, the tax is only useful if citizens are given an accessible alternative, ie a proper rollout of a doorstep recycling scheme alongside the regular waste collection. The sensible thing to do would be to tax the non-recyclable waste and not the recycling collections. Of course that's the point where we see whether the government are more interested in the revenue raising aspect of the plan, or the environmental side. Remember how quickly the metering of water charges in Northern Ireland was dismissed, despite being the obvious sensible option?