New homeowners could face caps on their weekly rubbish under secret Government plans

The Government's secret plans, which were revealed on Sunday, are part of the latest scheme to make householders reduce waste.

Bin taxes could also be increased to up to £466 a year.

Another idea floated in a report for the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is to force residents to buy council bin bags at around 75p each  -  and refuse to collect rubbish put out in anything else.

Labour could cap the amount of waste produced by new homeowners and introduce new waste measures aimed at all householders

The Daily Mail's Great Bin Revolt campaign has demonstrated the depth of public anger over cuts to traditional rubbish collections which councils have provided for more than 125 years.

Now ministers are considering plans for new developments to be given limits for the amount of waste per dwelling that will be collected.

Changes to planning laws would mean the system could be introduced using rules that allow the number of parking spaces to be capped for new-build homes to reduce car use.

The report, titled Household Waste Prevention Policy says: 'When housing is planned, consideration is given to waste collection systems, and how much waste will be produced per house.'

It goes on to say that 'if the policy for this planning was changed to fix a limit on how much waste will be collected' then residents' waste would be restricted.

Limiting the frequency of collections or the size of bins was 'the most direct way to compel householders to reduce their waste,' it concluded.

Defra had been trying to keep the 412-page study - which cost £160,000 to compile - under wraps. Its aim was to 'identify and investigate waste prevention policies with the greatest potential for application' and it calls for a policy of ' collection limitations in terms of rubbish bin size or the interval between collections'.

In the wake of Labour's meltdown at local elections last month, Gordon Brown ditched plans to tax rubbish.

However, the report suggests that the idea is still being considered in Whitehall. Bin taxes will create 'extra revenue' for the 'finance departments of local authorities', it states.

Another suggested method for raising extra revenue is an idea already adopted in parts of Holland known as the 'expensive bag' system. Under this scheme, councils only collect branded bin bags bought

from the local authority on top of a one-off 'base fee'.

Researchers recommended a levy of £466 a year for emptying a 240-litre bin fortnightly.

They also revealed a legal loophole which allows councils to charge for waste collection - already in use in Blaby, Leicestershire.

It indicates how 'variable charging of a sort is possible in England, even where many believe the law forbids it.

One in five homes has now been given wheelie bins fitted with microchips in preparation for pay-as-you-throw taxes. Of the 350 local authorities in England, 169 have axed weekly collections.