How many bin bags did you fill with rubbish over Christmas? It might be the time for giving, but when it comes to the festive season and the environment it's all take take take.

And it's not just during the festive period that the landfills of the UK go into overdrive. New figures show that throughout the year the UK produces more landfill waste than any other EU country.

However, in a bid to beat the bin-it culture Paul Bettison, chairman of the Local Government Association Environment Board has announced radical new plans to charge householders for any rubbish they produce destined for landfill. The War on Waste campaign calls for tough new government legislation to charge people who do not recycle. The proposals would see money currently spent on waste disposal cut from council tax bills. Individual householders would then be charged per kilo for waste that could not be recycled. But is taxing the public really the answer or should it be the manufacturers and their obsession with over-packaging that are targeted? "Like any war this is one which must be fought on many fronts", Mr Bettison continues, "not only do we have to continue to encourage people to recycle we also have to encourage manufacturers and supermarkets to be more environmentally friendly."

Interested in how to beat the landfill culture? Check out Stranger's feature on one man's mission to turn trash into terra from issue 4 here