First councils prepare bids for weekly collection fund
21 February 2012
The first submissions to the Department for Communities and Local Government’s £250 million weekly waste collection fund are being prepared, with two councils confirming they are set to apply.
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- Bath and North East Somerset council will be applying for funding to provide wheeled recycling bins to residents, to replace the bags it currently distributes
Both Bath & North East Somerset and St Albans city and district councils have announced that they will be putting submissions forward for financial support from the fund, launched by communities secretary Eric Pickles earlier this month.
St Albans
At a meeting of the St Albans city and district council cabinet on 16 February, councillors approved plans for the local authority to apply to the fund to help establish a weekly food waste collection service.
Councillor Daniel Chichester-Miles, the council’s portfolio holder for environment, said: “The scheme provides the council with an ideal opportunity to bid for funds to help us achieve the 60% household recycling rate.
“We have recently conducted a composition analysis of household waste sent to landfill in the district and preliminary results show that food accounts for more than 30% if this waste. A successful bid will enable us to introduce a weekly collection for food waste that will help reduce the amount of food that is sent to landfill.
“An alternative way of reducing food waste altogether is of course for everyone to think about the amount of food they are buying, but failing to consume.”
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- St Albans city and district council hopes to receive funding to implement a weekly food waste collection service
Bath and North East Somerset
Bath and North East Somerset council is planning to put forward an application to the weekly collection support fund to provide wheeled bins to residents. The local authority already carries out a weekly collection of residual waste and recyclables, but is only able to provide plastic bags to residents for waste.
The council is also hoping that any available funding would also allow it to offer residents an additional box for recyclables, as currently only one is available per household. A spokesman for Bath and North East Somerset council said: “We are hoping to make the service easier and more efficient for residents.”
Councils have until March 16 2012 to submit an expression of interest in applying for funds, with outline bids due by May 11, and final bids by August 17. Approval for funding will be confirmed in October 2012, with the first money available in the 2012/13 financial year.
LGA
Related Links
Supporting Weekly Collections prospectus
St Albans city and district council
According to the politics website Conservativehome, the government had received around 70 expressions of interest before the criteria for funding had been announced, and the Local Government Association (LGA) claims that there has been a good level of interest from local authorities so far.
While some local authorities including Bristol city council claim they will not be applying to the scheme as they may not qualify for funding (see letsrecycle.com story), the LGA is encouraging councils to express an interest in the fund in case they are still eligible.
A spokesman for the LGA, said: “We are telling councils at the moment that it is worth putting in an expression of interest if in doubt, because there may be opportunities opening up at a later stage.”
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