HOUSEHOLDERS face extra charges to have their non-recyclable rubbish collected under government plans. Ministers are proposing councils should be allowed to introduce top-up fees that could see householders paying up to £200 a year for their bins to be emptied.

The move, expected to be announced later this year, aims to penalise householders who fail to increase the amount they recycle. Those who cut down their waste are likely to face smaller bills.

It comes amid growing concern that another measure to promote recycling — the switch to fortnightly collections — is creating a health hazard. Official studies have found evidence of an increase in the number of rats, insects and odours as a result of rubbish being left to rot.

There are fears that a new charge on non-recycled rubbish will increase fly-tipping and will be seen as a cash-raising exercise by councils, but Defra, the environment department claims that it would be fairer for those who cut down on waste.

Councils would choose between three charging schemes. The first would see householders having to buy special “approved” refuse sacks or tags for their sacks.

Under the second scheme they would pay each time their bin was emptied — and could opt not to put their bins out for each collection. The third involves microchips in bins that will weigh the refuse.

Dominic Hogg, director of Eunomia, an environmental consultancy employed by Defra, said the cost for a typical family would be £100-£200 a year. “Charging offers an incentive for people to change their behaviour,” he said.

Defra confirmed it was considering “pay as you throw” fees. It said an announcement would be made once a review of local government finance by Sir Michael Lyons was completed. Lyons told The Sunday Times last month that he thought charges were inevitable.

Up to a third of councils have scrapped weekly rubbish collections, but a study into the health effects of fortnightly collections in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, found the number of residents reporting an increase in vermin rose from 7.4% to 9.8% after the switch. It also found a rise in the reported incidence of insect infestation from 7.4% to 41.5%. However, the government-commissioned study concluded that there had been no increase in health problems.

Yesterday Professor Hugh Pennington, president of the Society for General Microbiology, said: “This risks increasing the rat population. It is bad news from a public health point of view.”

The controversial crackdown on rubbish “misbehaviour” has been highlighted by the case of Michael Reeves, 28, from Swansea, who received a criminal record, was fined £100 by magistrates and had to pay £100 costs after putting paper in a bag meant for recyclable cans and bottles. It was his second offence — the first had been to put a bin out on the wrong day.

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