According to new government plans wheelie bins will be fitted with microchips in order to boost recycling rates.

The government has backed new plans to fit Household bins with microchips which will then be weighed when they are collected. Householders that put waste to be recycled will be rewarded with points that can be redeemed for vouchers up to £130 per year.

For each kilo of recyclable waste that is put out households will be rewarded with 5.5 points.

Chairman of the Environmental Board for the Local Government Association, Gary Porter said that the new scheme had already been rolled out in the borough’s of Windsor and Maidenhead but warned against a nationwide programme. He said that local councils should be able to choose if they implement an incentive programme as it could be hard to implement in places like blocks of flats where they only have a single bin.

Recycling rates in the UK have significantly improved in the last six years. Last year alone over 11 million tonnes of waste was recycled in comparison to just 5.2 million tonnes in 2003/4.