Ministers were accused yesterday of letting business off the hook after announcing proposals for a “pay-as-you-throw” household rubbish scheme to boost recycling.

David Miliband, the Environment Secretary, presented plans to let councils charge residents extra for throwing out excessive black-bin waste with rebates for those recycling more.

He is also backing the introduction of sealed food waste containers to trap methane, which can be used as an alternative form of energy.

The plans are part of a waste strategy for the next 20 years that proposes more demanding recycling targets for household waste to make big cuts in landfill. Councils will have to recycle at least 40 per cent of household waste by 2010, rising to 50 per cent by 2020.

But council chiefs and environmental groups claimed that the proposals were “too little, too late” and that householders and town halls rather than business would pay the price.

The stategy document proposes to reduce junk mail and to encourage supermarkets to cut back on single-use plastic carrier bags. But there were no new requirements for retailers to cut packaging, with only vague plans of future targets.

“Our key objectives are less waste, more reuse and recycling, more energy from waste and less landfill,” Mr Miliband told MPs. He claimed that there had been a step-change in recycling performance since 2001 but said that England still lagged behind most of Europe.

Lord Bruce-Lockhart, chairman of the Local Government Association (LGA), told The Timesthat the proposals placed a heavy requirement on the council taxpayer rather business. “The balance between the private sector and the local resident needs readjusting. There are voluntary agreements but no teeth.”

He also said that councils would need more money to meet the targets. Town halls already pay the Treasury £750 million a year in landfill tax and by 2010 they will be forced to pay EU fines on top. “The strategy sets out plans almost to double recycling targets which will be impossible to achieve without proper government investment.”

Mr Miliband made clear that it would be up to local councils how they operated any charging mechanism but he insisted that people would not have to pay twice for rubbish collection. Town halls would be barred from increasing the amount that “residents as a whole” pay to their council.

The document argues that before town halls could operate an “incentive” scheme they would have to provide bins for five different types of recycla-ble rubbish, including glass, paper, cardboard, food and plastic. It adds that all councils would have to set up properly enforced fly-tipping policies to ensure that neighbours did not try to offload their rubbish. Poorer families and disadvantaged groups would be offered some protection.

The paper does not provide a blueprint for the schemes but gives examples of European practice. In Treviso, Italy, electronic tags or chips are used to record when bins are emptied.

In Flanders, a transparent chip is used to identify a bin that is weighed and loaded on to a vehicle. Householders are billed for nonrecycled waste.

In Flanders waste is billed at 10p per kilogram, equal to £50 per household per year. Low waste households disposing of £20 worth a year have a rebate of £30. Those disposing of £80 worth pay an extra £30.

The waste strategy also proposes optouts for junk mail, including unaddressed flyers, with the aim of setting up a register for an opt-in system. In addition it details plans to encourage special recycling bins in royal parks and airports.

Peter Ainsworth, Tory environment spokesman, said: “It is clear that the Government’s current approach to waste is failing. This is because the Government persists in bullying councils, communities and families instead of making it easier for them to go green. We need to look at helping householders rather than penalising them.”

Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrat environment spokesman, said: “This is too little and too late. The Government’s 50 per cent recycling target for 2020 does not even match the best current standards in Europe such as Germany’s 58 per cent and the Netherlands’ 65 per cent.

“We have the third worst recycling rate in the EU, and ministers are far too unambitious. We need a right to return excessive packaging at retailers, trials of a plastic-bag charge plus more prosecutions for excessive waste and fly-tipping.”

Michael Warhurst, of Friends of the Earth, said: “The Government’s renewed commitment to recycling and composting is very welcome, particularly the promotion of weekly food waste collections and the proposal to give councils the opportunity to reward those who recycle more.”

The targets

— New target to recycle 50 per cent of all household waste by 2020

— An opt-out for all nonaddressed junk mail with proposals for an opt-in register

— Pay-as-you-throw schemes, including chip and bin

— Voluntary agreement with industry to reduce single-use supermarket bags and to minimise packaging

— Consultation on mandatory site waste management plans for construction projects

— Encourage anaerobic digestion, so that gases from concealed food waste can be converted into alternative energy

— Provide more recycling bins in public parks and airports

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