HOUSEHOLDERS across the country could soon be charged to throw away their rubbish. The idea is to encourage people to produce less waste and recycle more. This pay as you throw system has been used in Belgium for several years and there has been a dram

HOUSEHOLDERS across the country could soon be charged to throw away their rubbish.

The idea is to encourage people to produce less waste and recycle more.

This "pay as you throw" system has been used in Belgium for several years and there has been a dramatic increase in recycling.

Reporter Adam Lazzari went out in Ely to see what people think of the scheme.

Sara Watts, 42, from Ely

"I'm not sure about it. Recycling is a very good thing and we've got to the point where the Government has to take harsh measures to make people more conscious of the environment. Some people don't think about the environment at all and would never recycle.

"But this is a very extreme way of doing things and should only really be a last resort. I don't know how the scheme could be policed. People will throw their rubbish into other people's bins and there will be an increase in fly-tipping, so the scheme can create more problems."

Ros Johnson, 50, from Cambridge

"I already try to recycle most of my rubbish willingly, without such extreme measures.

"I'd hope this sort of scheme would make people think more about cutting waste and recycling but it's just a bit too extreme for my liking."

Bernard Hall, 53, from Brampton

"It's a terrible idea. I already pay my Council Tax and recycle a lot and I doubt there will be much of a rebate.

"The problem is with supermarkets and big chain stores. They need to reduce the amount of materials they use.

"You open things up and get packages within packages within packages and they always use polystyrene and plastics that can't be recycled."

Annette Jackson, 59, from Ely

"It's a really good idea.

"Surely this would mean we get better facilities for recycling and a rebate on Council Tax.

"It could make problems in other areas as some people will try to save money by dumping their rubbish elsewhere."

Stephanie Gwinnell, 20, from Peterborough

"It's a good idea in theory, but there should be different rules for different people.

"It will be a lot harder for big families to save so much waste and it's quite unfair to have a blanket rule for everyone.

"It sounds like it will be easy for people to cheat the system and some people will just dump their rubbish in their neighbours' bins."

Bridget Martin, 51, from Ely

"It wouldn't worry me because I'm already really good at recycling. It's a bit extreme though and I think councils should concentrate more on making it easier for people to recycle and more aware of the facilities available for this.