In most countries, rubbish makes headlines only when it is not collected, and stinking sacks lie heaped on the streets. In Britain bins are a front-page staple. Tabloids talk of "waste wars", dubbing local officials "green zealots" or "the Talibin" for their fierce enforcement of rules on recycling or collection times. "Council Race Spies Rummage Through Your Bin," thundered the Daily Mail this month, after some councils studied the waste produced by different social and ethnic groups. Electronic tags linking bins to individual homes have prompted special anger, both for their potential role in "pay-as-you-throw" bin taxes and as a "Big Brother" intrusion into family life.
展开▼
