COVENTRY City Council has denied it intends to put microchips in bins after a paragraph in the authority’s draft climate change strategy was labelled a ‘chilling Orwellian nightmare from 1984’.
The paragraph in question suggested the authority reviewed the use of technology, such as microchips in bins, to develop a ‘detailed understanding’ of waste collection effectiveness and recycling participation rates in neighbourhoods or households to provide insight for ‘future targeted actions’.
Conservative councillors claim after raising questions at a meeting of the council’s scrutiny coordination committee on March 1, officers acknowledged this data could be used to identify neighbourhoods and people that were not recycling, and that those residents ‘could face a knock at the door’.
Coventry Conservatives leader Coun Gary Ridley said: “We should do all we can to support and encourage recycling, but this sounds like something from an authoritarian state that distrusts its citizens.
“I wonder how many residents would welcome a knock at the door while they’re trying to cook dinner for the family?
“This is nothing but a snooper’s charter and I would urge Coventry City Council to can this plan immediately.”
However, a council spokesperson said putting microchips in bins was not and had never been policy.
The spokesperson added officer oversight led to the reference about microchipping bins being included in the draft strategy, which was out for consultation and gave the opportunity for changes to be made.
This paragraph on the online version of the draft climate change strategy has since been changed to remove any mention of microchips in bins.
The council’s draft 2023 to 2030 climate change strategy is open for public consultation until May 31.
The draft strategy aims to set out the foundations for creating a sustainable, zero-carbon city.
A survey is currently available for people to fill in as part of the consultation and Coventrians can visit one of five drop-in sessions across the city.
The first takes place at Cannon Park Shopping Centre on Saturday, March 25.
Visit letstalk.coventry.gov.uk/climate-change-strategy for more information.
