UK councils to receive £1.4bn recycling windfallLocal authorities across the UK will cash in on a share of £1.4bn thanks to new measures set to reinvent recycling by making producers pay a chunk of its cost. Under the current system, local authorities – or, rather, taxpayers – have footed the bill for recycling our empty milk bottles, cereal boxes and soup tins. That’s about to be binned with the government’s announcement of a new ‘Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging’ scheme, which shifts the financial burden to businesses who produce the packaging. Producers have expressed concern about the cost of the scheme, warning that they will ultimately push up prices for shoppers. The bulk of the cash will go to English local authorities to streamline collections and revamp recycling infrastructure.