英国：每年每户限扔80袋垃圾

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.

英国家庭面临“每年只能扔80袋垃圾”的限令。扔的垃圾超过80袋的家庭得自己将多余的垃圾送到垃圾站去，或是另外花钱买数量有限的垃圾袋。

目前已经有一个地方的市政厅在实行该计划，有一个市政厅引进了该计划，还有180多个市政厅在考虑这项计划。这个垃圾配额计划是地方政府为了减少垃圾量而进行的最新尝试，以达到欧盟定下的目标。

每周垃圾收集运动的多雷塔•科克斯说：“原来这就叫限额配给。有的地方政府原本是每隔两周用有轮的大垃圾筒来收集垃圾的，但是现在他们已经开始通过使用更小的垃圾筒来控制配给了。”

科克斯接着说：“他们当我们是傻瓜吗？他们叫人们自己开车将垃圾送到当地的垃圾站，然后还声称自己关心环境？那如果你没有车怎么办？走过去吗？”

该配额计划全然不顾部长们要求停止这种强制行为的呼声。

伯克郡沃金厄姆区市政厅即将执行垃圾袋配额制度，该市政厅是由保守党领导的。赫特福德郡的布罗克斯伯恩市已经实施了该制度。

在180个现在仍实行每周一次无限制垃圾收集制度的地方市政厅中，很多正在观望试验的结果如何。

沃金厄姆的官员们告诉市民说将发给每户容量为75公升的垃圾袋，政府不会收袋子以外的垃圾。

沃金厄姆的官员说：“每年每户将收到80个垃圾袋，你可以买额外的袋子，一卷十个，但是我们不鼓励这种做法。”

五口之家每年能得到100个袋子，六口以上的人家能得到120个。沃金厄姆市政厅发言人昨天称，如果谁扔的垃圾量超过配额，那么他得自己开车到市垃圾站去扔垃圾。

市民可以每周进行一次可回收垃圾收集，这些垃圾包括易拉罐、纸和卡片、塑料瓶以及喷雾器。

塑料包装、锡纸包装和玻璃（包括玻璃瓶）可以归到普通垃圾里或者送到垃圾回收点去。绿色垃圾回收每年需要额外支付60英镑。

沃金厄姆市政厅每年向市民收取1462英镑的D级市政税，他们声称新制度每年能为市政厅节省92.2万英镑。市政厅称在明年四月份引进该计划之前，地方政府将不接受任何咨询。

Vocabulary:

tip: a place where you can take rubbish/garbage and leave it（垃圾场；垃圾堆）

fortnightly: happening once a fortnight（两星期一次的）

fly in the face of something: 悍然不顾；公然违抗；与……相悖

heavy-handedness: 高压手段

Tory: of or relating to the British Conservative Party or its supporters（英国保守党的，保守党人）

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；威慑；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 （喷油漆、头发定型剂等的）喷雾器，雾化器；气雾剂；气溶胶