I already have a slop bucket courtesy of Brabantia. The waste is then dispensed periodically to the composter.
I have an household of four adults and one child (because houses are too expensive etc. etc.) and only have one small black bag of unrecycable rubbish each week.

belinda McCameron, St Austell, Cornwall

I tried the bucket to collect kitchen waste last summer although it sat just outside the kitchen door and was emptied into the compost bin at the bottom of the garden every few days.
Even emptied more frequently and with the addition of a lid it still attracted small flies. They became a terrible nuisance and the day I found my fruit bowl infested with them I gave up on the idea.
Now all (all?!) I have is a compost bin down the garden, a second bin for the paper and tins that the council will recycle, a big bag for glass to take to the bottle bank, another for rags for the textile bank, worn shoes for the shoe bank sit with it, and a box in the spare room for items that charities may be able to use.
I do not want a wormery or one of those kibosh things in my kitchen thank you, as I would like to retain some room there to cook and eat.
Like Eric above I am getting very disillusioned with this recycling regime.
The more we do, the more we may.

cam, Essex,

Some of these comments are really very funny. I laughed a lot reading them.

T. Bishop, London, UK

Not a bad idea in principle, but.... by the time government has watered it down to accomodate every winge and local authorities have got hold of it and inplemented it as inefficiently as only they can it will prove unmanagable and another farce. Surely the most obvious target to regulate are the producers and suppliers and force them to reduce the ammount of non recycleable packaging - especially supermarkets

Tim, Ely,

Rather than have a slop bucket and use the methane for power stations, council should encourage the use of Effective Micro-organism recycling of all food waste. This method has been proven to reduce landfill and the use of Bokashi - the activated bran used in the process - discourages rats and other vermin. I beleive that this method has been used on a community scale in some inner city London boroughs to great effect. Once fermented the waste can them be used as a fertiliser, reducing further the reliance on fossile fuels.

Martin Grant, East Kilbride, Scotland

I think the idea is good in principle but will fail through a combination of poor delivery of the concept and if it does ever get off the ground poor execution.

I also beleive that as a nation generally, we are apathetic to environmental issues and using 'the stick' approach simply exacerbates this.

Landfill sites are hideous and are environmental timebombs. Incinerators are extremely unhealthy but judging from most of the comments made here it seems that we'd rather put up with both of these as long as they're not in our back yard. A much longer term view is needed.

There is no easy or cheap solution given the amount and type of waste we now produce. A much more cohesive and integrated plan is needed on a countrywide basis.

Education is key but New Labour no longer has the credibility to deliver this without appearing to either patronise or dictate. Unfortunately I'm not sure about the alternatives!

Duncan Carter, Preston, UK

We are slipping slowly and inexorably towards excessive state intrusion into our personal lives. This might just be a 'load of old rubbish' but I see chasms developing in our society, with a ruling class and super rich global players free to live as they wish, leaving the masses of ordinary people controlled by excessive taxation and regulation of their lives.

Steve Marchant, Torquay, England

"an incinerator just burning everything and anything and poisoning our children"!

Elizabeth that is just sensationalism. 70% of air pollution is caused by cars. Do you drive? I expect so. YOU are poisoning your own children.

Modern incineration is extremely efficient, and produces little pollution.

Christian Phipps, Worthing, West Sussex

Collection food waste is a very responsible solution to both combatting climate change (by minimising methane in landfill) and countering the rats and maggots arguement. Householders will likely get a rigid, sealable container to keep outside and a smaller kitchen caddy for the kitchen. The container will collected once a week. This is obviously better than putting food waste into a wheelie bin which is collected just every fortnight and is more easily infiltrated by pests. THIS IS A GOOD THING! And the model has been seen to work in many local authorities across the UK with very positive results. Can I just ask, if this article had been given a positive spin, would you all have jumped on the issue so voraciously?

rebecca cook, kettering, northants

Great idea. Dont listen to that to that miserable 'MD' person. He/she probably has wrecked his/her immune system by protecting it from all adversity in a horrid white sterile existence.

Paddygoat, bangor,

Yet another self defeating politically correct answer. If you want to save energy get rid of the 'public servants' that come up with this nonesense, now that would save a lot of hot air.

Try simply educating the public correctly about the issues instead of telling them how you're going to punish them. Involve and encourage them. The routes being suggested at the moment are more USSR and UK, and take a look at what happened there, 50% of Europes most polluted cities are in the FSU.

David Welch, London, UK

If you haven't actually committed a crime that already exists, one will be along soon that you will; so a slop bucket in every home makes a fitting conclusion to ten years of this "administration".

Will it come with CCTV in every room to ensure its proper use, in line with corresponding new Health and Safety requirements? And don't forget the army of new "Slop-Buster" inspectors armed with powers of entry, paid for by.....(cont. p. 94)

David Masu, Zürich,

I live in Norwich near where there was going to be a proposed incinerator and I for one am glad that people are starting to take notice of the fact that far too many resourses are being needlessly wasted. I would much rather have a small container with slops in my kitchen than an incinerator just burning everything and anything and poisoning our children.

Elizabeth Earl, Norwich, UK

Where will we get the increase in water availability needed to run the thousands of garbage disposal units that will be installed in preference to storing food waste?

Ann Liles, Weston-super-mare, Somerset

I think its irresponsible and a shoddily conceived idea. Every time this waste container is opened up for "slops" to be put in, there will be a risk of contamination either from fungal spores or worse, aerosolised pathogens entering the atmosphere, especially during the summer, unless of course they provide you with a fridge mto put it in!

MD, York, UK

There is a large amount of evidence suggesting that incineration causes ill-health in infants. (Ryan and Van Steenis).There are logical arguments indicating that incineration increases the production of climate-changing gases (Hogg).
Defra breaks its own guidelines on PFI funding of waste facilities
New planning legislation will deliberately prevent us protesting.
I cannot understand the mentality of a Government which insists on ruling by anarchy.
Even more puzzling is the manner in which we are allowing ourselves to be hoodwinked.

Barry Robinson, Hull, Yorkshire

What about a giant slop bucket in the Palace of Westminster, for discarded New Labour initiatives? They could generate enough hot air to heat a city the size of John Prescott.

Frank Upton, Solihull,

Again and again and again, the british government falls back on using the stick instead of the carrot. It's always about fines, with this government.

Why dont they give people an incentive to do right, rather than the threat of punishment if they do wrong.

Rather than fine people, offer people discounts on their council tax if they do recycle, that way, if you want to, you do, if you dont, you dont gain anything.

It really does make my blood boil how this government has reduced everything down to money. If you can afford it, you can do pretty much whatever you like!

Arthur, Newcastle,

You have become a nation of sheep. With your police unable to provide security and you denied the right to provide your own, they are now besetting law abiding citizens with more and more foolish regulations and chores, making your lives less and less productive.

clarice , Wash.,D.C., USA

Blimey most councils can't even put Re-cycling bins in households.

Are there not more important issues than SLOP Bins?

Mark Websper, Margate, Kent

Personally, I think that anything that makes British people think about excessive consumption is a good thing.

Think about it - how much food did your parents or grandparents throw away? What did they do with chicken bones or other leftovers?

It's a scandal how much food the average Briton buys and then throws away - around 25 percent by some estimates.

Learn about food; learn how to buy; learn how to cook!!!

Giselda , Stockholm, Sweden

Don't you other commenters know Britain now has a new
state religion called Gaia-ism.

Recycling earns you brownie points with Gaia.

It doesn't matter that it is economic nonsense.

Gaia will be happy with us if we recycle.
Don't you realise that to Gaia flies and rats are just as important as
people. She is happy if they prosper in our streets.

Scott Murray, Dunstable, UK

How is the government going to impose stupid darconian recycling measures on ill people, elderly people, depressed people, new mothers, overworked people, confused people, drug addicts, people with drink problems etc etc etc..

Stephanie Munden, King's Lynn, England

What rubbish! We have a brand new 200 flat development where I live and more coming. How are all these people going to cope with 5 separate recycle bins, where are they going to keep them in their tiny flats and how are they going to be collected by the Council - unless everybody runs downstairs after each meal with the leftovers to dump them into huge collective containers - that will be a nice stink!

Alice, Stevenage,

Today I have flies buzzing around my house, the rubbish has been stored for 2 weeks and will be collected tomorrow. The streets near me look like a dissaster zone with overflowing wheelie bins and plastic bags everywhere.
Mr. Millaband now wants me to store my food waste perhaps he can tell me where? We live in typical Victorian terraced housing with no front garden. The houses are not exacltly palatial and my small rear town garden now has two green boxes, a blue box, garden waste bag and a wheelie bin to store my plastic bags for 2 weeks. As an ardent recycler I am slowly changing into an ex recycler because of dictatorial councils and our government.

Eric, Oxford,

I find all these initiatives a complete waste (no pun intended) of
politicians and our time. Yes, there is a problem, but bringing in
measures that not only take up extra space within our houses,
but also a multitude of bins outside is another example of the
government dictating how we live our lives. Life is complicated enough
without the threat of fines from the local council if we either make
a mistake, or, as most people will understand, not have enough
time to get it right.

Why the local councils can't employ people to sift through recycle
waste separating the materials exactly how the council wants is
beyond me. What are we paying them for (apart from pensions deficits)?

I'm tired of the government pushing through things that make everyday
life increasingly complicated. I'm also tired of the government wasting
money on repeatedly failing computer schemes, and the latest HIPS
fiasco.

Martin Andrews, Berks, England

A number of local authorities already ask for waste to be sorted, both within the home and then when the waste is transferred to bins outside, and require all new developments to provide these facilities.

This proposal would simply extend what is already happenng.

The main problem is storage; multiple bins take up a lot of space in the kitchen and outside in storage areas. They also lead to confusion for some householders, as it is not always easy to decide what waste goes where.

And are councils geared to collect five or six different wastes separately - presumably in several different rubbish trucks?

You already hear stories of people carefully sorting white, green and brown glass into different recycling bins only to have them all dumped into one lorry.

Vivien Aldred, Norwich, UK

This is a fantastic idea which I support. This scheme in urban areas, collecting weekly, compliments the Alternatively Weekly Collection (AWC), and the concerns over food waste left for 2 weeks.

If everyone separated out all their scap food, tea bags, shredded paper, envelopes (gum), dirty paper into a biodegradable plastic bag, placed in a sealed kitchen caddy, collected once/twice a week, we would have Landfill and Incineration mainly licked. Lets support this direction

Anerobic Digestion is done in sealed tanks, producing green methane for cars, cooking, heating or electricity; high quality compost (peat substitute) and liquid fertiliser.

The Food Caddy system has been trialed successfully in Bristol and Bath, the Anaerobic Digestion plant designed by Greenfinch has run successfully a 10,000Tpa scalable module at Ludlow , S.\Shropshire.

David Miliband visited the plant and like myself though this is the solution and future to reduce landfill and increase compost/ green

Rob Oliver, London,

What is it about environmentalists and their fetish for filth?

Michael, CB, USA

As a care assistant, several of my clients had a kitchen waste bin. A small brown lidded bin for food waste. It stank by the time it came to throw it out. That was in the South Hams.

Instead of focussing on the building of more and more cramped and unaffordable flats as homes, why don't this government use the large amount of empty houses to rehome, and build new houses, with gardens, that way we can all recycle our kitchen waste as compsot, and grow our own food to boot.

Jennifer Hynes, Plymouth, England

Much as I liked Tony, I really think the time for an election is due. Politicians of all parties are so out of touch with reality and the public it has became frightening. We are being encouraged to use rainwater in the home, collect waste water in tanks for re use, keep buckets of rotting food lying around. This would lead to infestation and disease that would sink the health service. Ireland introduced the two week collection and now spend more on policing and clearing dumped rubbish. If the rates need to be raised to pay for the services we have then do it. If a realistic policy was adopted on pensions paid to councill employees, police fire and hospital workers, there would be ample funds. Buy your own pension like the rest of us.
More enforcement on recycling by manufacturers would lead to less waste. Also, Re- use is much better than recycling. We need sensible debate from a sensible government now.

kenny, Hove,

It is definitely time to leave the country. We have to get away from these lunatics.

judy, Liverpool, england

These proposals are typical of the government's response to any problem - hit the end user who in reality has little control over the packagng that comes with their purchases, particularly food. There is a direct comparison with the way the transport problem has not been addressed by improving the public transport so that cars are not required. The public should not be the ones who are made to pay, it should be the companies who spend millions on having their produce packed in layers of plastic.
Here's a simple thought, why not re-introduce the paper bag, carton carrier?

John, Carnforth, Lancs

This just goes to prove that the people that run this country have no idea at all of the condidtions that the people they say they represent, live in.

How people that live in blocks of flats, or small appartments with no gardens are supposed to find space for a bucket of rotting food when they probably dont have space to store all the things they do need. Do you think it's nice to have a bin full of rotting food sitting in your kitchen? If you dont have access to a garden where are you to put the boxes of stuff that you have seperated.

This is stupidy at its worst. The end result of this, which anyone with an ounce of common sense would have realised when all this fortnightly rubbish collection garbage was first mooted, was that it will all end up on the streets and someone will have to pay to clear that up, and that someone will be us, the tax payer.

Peter J. Orme, Birmingham, Uk

Surely it would be much better to have another bucket beside every toilet.
That would really help in the production of methane.
And why not let it get really ripe? - we just need to collect it every fortnight!
Perhaps it would also be useful to change the name of WRAP - swop the W to a C
Or perhaps just collect all the hot air coming out of these so called Green apostles - that could generate all the green energy we need.

Bill, Newcastle,

Dump it in parks, on street corners, in dark alleys, in empty fields!

Jean Arrache, Montreal, Canada

I can't see a problem with sealed food-waste containers (provided you have a nice, spacious kitchen with somewhere to put them). But I'm not happy about the idea of charging by weight of rubbish. At least, if they're going to do this, councils must not start collections so early that you need to leave your bag or bin out the previous night, for the reasons Mary in Derby cites - the unscrupulous could easily, under cover of darkness, dump stuff in your bin, leaving you to pay.

Barry, Wallington,

I agree with recycling but innocent people are already being punished because of these green collections.
My daughter has two bins from the council, one is a green bin just for cardboard and garden refuse which is collected every other week, alternating with the usual bin, and the council workers refused to take it last week because someone had put non-recyclable rubbish in it while it was standing on the pavement waiting for them to collect it. They are told to have the bins out by 7am and she's very stringent with making sure the bin only contains what it should contain.
The council offered to send the police community liason officer round to try to find the culprit. We have crime soaring through the roof and our police are busy looking into things like this!

Mary, Derby, Derbyshire