Councils in England are to be given the power to introduce pilot schemes to charge households according to the amount of rubbish they throw away. BBC reports that this news comes as MPs warn the UK could face fines of up to £180m a year from the European Commission if it does not cut the amount of waste dumped in landfill.

Last week, plans for a pay-as-you-throw rubbish charge were apparently shelved.

Conservatives accused the government of a U-turn over plans and said such schemes will lead to more fly-tipping.

The shadow communities secretary Eric Pickles said: "What we should be doing is increasing recycling. We can do that without doing it through a bin tax." The scheme would lead to a surge in fly-tipping, people dumping their waste in neighbours‘‘ gardens and more back garden bonfires, he said.

New solutions

Last week, it was reported that the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs had been all set to announce the scheme could go ahead, but Downing Street intervened and Prime Minister Gordon Brown was reported to have been unenthusiastic.

Waste minister Joan Ruddock dismissed Conservative accusations that the government was confused. Graphic showing average composition of household bin

"We all know we can‘‘t go on putting rubbish in holes in the ground. We need to find new ways and these sorts of schemes and incentives may be part of that."

Meanwhile, the Commons public accounts committee has claimed ministers have been too slow to react to a 1999 EU directive on waste.

It says there is a "significant risk" that new composting plants and rubbish incinerators will not be up and running in time to meet its targets. PAC chairman Edward Leigh urged ministers to promote large-scale recycling. Under the EU directive, the UK must reduce the amount of biodegradable waste going into landfill from the 18.1m tonnes dumped in 2003/4 to 13.7m tonnes in 2010, 9.2m in 2013 and 6.3m in 2020. The committee said this meant not only encouraging householders to recycle and compost more of their rubbish, but also there was a need for new energy from waste power plants capable of processing up to 15m tonnes each year.

However, MPs conceded the development of waste plants tended to be "unpopular" with the public and entail construction delays because of large scale protests from locals opposed to schemes. Mr Leigh said it was time for Defra to "take the tough decisions and practical steps" needed to get more people recycling.

How UK is faring against EU targets

Defra knew about the EU targets long before 1999 but has been slow to react, taking no effective action before 2003, the committee‘‘s report said.

The amount of biodegradable waste dumped in English landfill sites was cut by 2.3m tonnes to 12.4m tonnes between 2003/4 and 2005/6, requiring a further reduction of 4.9m tonnes to comply with the 2013 maximum allowance set by the EU.

But Defra defended its action, saying: "England is making good progress on reducing the waste we send to landfill.

"We are close to meeting our 2010 targets and working hard to ensure we meet the 2013 and 2020 targets too.

"These are challenging and we are not complacent, but we should not knock the progress we have made."

Biodegradable materials dumped in landfill sites, such as food, vegetation and paper, generate methane and other emissions to the soil that can be harmful to health. If the UK misses these targets, taxpayers will have to stump up the money to pay a huge fine to the European Commission Edward Leigh Chairman Public Accounts Committee

Some 3% of the UK‘‘s climate change emissions come from methane in landfill.

The MPs noted that 57% of the public "are already committed recyclers but househol