The weighing schemes could be commonplace if the pilots are a success and become government endorsed, the Local Government Association (LGA) says.

The RFID chips carry house number, address and occupant information and cost GBP2 each.

The chipped-bins are loaded onto rubbish-trucks to be weighed, and the totals are recorded onto an electronic data card. Back at the waste depot, all the weight-totals are downloaded onto a central computer.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has paid councils GBP 5 million for 40 pilot schemes.