Households could be charged to take rubbish to the tip under new plans

A Whitehall consultation document on boosting recycling revealed plans which would allow town halls to charge people for throwing away household waste which does not fit in their bins.

The Conservatives labelled the proposals a "tip tax" and claimed it would increase fly-tipping and punish responsible behaviour.

They claim the consultation, which closed last week, calls for councils to impose "pay as you throw" charges for doorstep waste collection and allows for the new tip tax - but will not lead to a reduction in council tax.

Under the current system, councils have a legal duty to provide sites for local residents to dispose of household waste free of charge.

Shadow local government secretary, Eric Pickles, said: "The Labour Government has an appalling record on fly-tipping.

"Yet their plans for a new 'tip tax', on top of bin taxes and existing council tax bills, will punish responsible behaviour.

"Whitehall has already ordered town halls to shrink the size of wheelie bins. Now good citizens who want to depose of large household items at their local rubbish tip will be hit with new stealth taxes.

"I fear that this anti-green tax will reward fly-tipping - with more fridges, sofas and black bin bags littering our landscape and open spaces.

"Rather than using every opportunity to tax people even more, the Government should work with councils to improve the recycling facilities at local rubbish tips."

The Tories also warned the proposals could lead to some people trying to hide domestic waste in with their recycling, to save space in wheelie bins.

The Consultation on the Incentives for Recycling by Households document states that any regime must be "revenue neutral", with councils not allowed to use the charges as a method of raising money.

The "tip tax" would be designed to stop people avoiding doorstep collection charges by taking all their household waste to the local dump.

The consultation said: "The Government would also make legislative changes to allow financial incentives to be implemented at civic amenity (CA) sites to avoid a situation where household waste was simply diverted to CA sites."

A Defra spokeswoman said: "Our consultation on incentives to encourage recycling would give local authorities the power to introduce financial incentives, provided they had the infrastructure in place to enable householders to recycle as much of their waste as possible.

"If householders didn't participate and therefore had more black bag waste, we also suggested that to avoid them simply taking their waste to the local tip instead, the local authority could also charge for the extra waste taken there.

"The essential thing is to drive down the waste we produce and all recycling would, of course, continue to be free of charge.

"Ultimately it is for local authorities, not central Government, to decide the best way of serving the waste needs of their locality, in consultation with the community."