According to the council which operates its collection services in-house the trial will cover certain streets in the Aboretum ward of the city, with full details to be issued in the coming weeks.
It has not been decided how long the trial will last, but Derby city councillor and cabinet member for neighbourhoods Ranjit Banwait told letsrecycle.com it could run for anything up to a year. Bring bank recycling points are to be introduced in the areas where collections are removed.
The city council first revealed in April 2013 that it was considering removing recycling collections from 147 streets in four wards in the city. The authority said that kerbside collections were not best suited these areas due to a high turnover of tenants and lack of space for wheeled bins (see letsrecycle.com story).
Complex issues
Mr Banwait said that there were a complex range of issues affecting the Aboretum streets taking part in the trial, where large numbers of transient rental properties and short term residents such as students and foreign migrants exist.
He said: Recycling is not working, full stop, in these areas. That is why we are doing it.
He added: The biggest issue we have is contaminated bins. Some residents are passionate about recycling and they do recycle, but when they put their bins out they sometimes get contaminated by others. Once that happens it all goes into landfill.
The council consulted with residents and neighbourhood boards in four wards in the city Abbey, Arboretum, Mackworth and Normanton about trialling the reduced service, but all except the Aboretum ward unanimously refused the trials.
“Recycling is not working full stop in these areas. That is why we are doing it”
Ranjit Banwait, Derby city council
According to Mr Banwait, the other wards refused the trial to focus on educating residents about recycling rather than removing collection services altogether.
He said: The other communities want to monitor how this all works, but for now they have declined the trial to focus on education and I am for that as well.
The trial will see residents on affected streets in Aboretum move to a weekly rather than fortnightly black bag collection service, but any materials they wish to recycle will have to be taken to a recycling point as collections of mixed recycling, food waste and green waste will cease.
Encouragement
Mr Banwait said one or more new recycling points would be installed close to the affected streets to encourage residents to continue recycling.
According to Mr Banwait, a report on the trials progress will later be presented to Aboretum neighbourhood ward, which would then decide whether to make the trial permanent or to reintroduce a collections service for recyclable material.
Currently, the council collects mixed recycling in blue wheeled bins and commingled food and green waste in brown wheeled bins. However, the collection of brown wheeled bins in Derby will also stop in October, as the council is introducing a paid-for garden waste collection service.
Mr Banwait said the changes were partly the result of the 40% cuts in council funding, which he described as the worst in the history of Derby.
He said: Our current service is unaffordable as it is we are running a Rolls Royce service in many ways at the moment. But if it was found that there is a chance for people to recycle then we could put the bins back.
But he said he believed ceasing recycling collections from the affected areas was the best option to drive up recycling in Aboretum rather than continue with the current service.
He said: I think it is absolute madness to do the same things over and over again when it doesnt work. Enforcement doesnt work and I dont want to penalise people who cannot afford to pay.
Opposition
Derby Climate Coalition campaign group opposes the removal of recycling collections in the city, arguing that affected Aboretum residents should have the same access to collection services as others in the city.
Last month, a survey undertaken by the group in one area of the city found that two out of three people were against the plans (see letsrecycle.com story).
Peter Robinson, chairman of the campaign group, told letsrecycle.com: The council had been working with us very closely but they have gone cold. They said they would consult us before they made any final decision and I was shocked when I found out the trial would be going ahead.
Sinfin
Councillor Banwait also said that the mechanical biological treatment (MBT) planned for Sinfin in Derby would enable more black bag waste in the city to be processed into energy, thereby boosting landfill diversion rates. However, the plant is currently the subject of a legal challenge due to be heard in October.
Resource Recovery Solutions (RRS) a wholly owned subsidiary of Shanks is set to operate the facility as part of its 27-year contract with Derby city and Derbyshire councils, signed in 2009.
RRS is investing a total of 130 million in the MBT plant, which will produce a solid recovered fuel (SRF) for use at the on-site gasification facility.
The 190,000 tonnes-per-year capacity plant was originally refused planning consent by Derby city council in 2009, a decision that Shanks then successfully appealed against in the High Court in May 2011, leading to planning permission finally being granted by the Planning Inspectorate in September 2012, following a 10 day public consultation into the plans (see letsrecycle.com story).
Following the Planning Inspectorates decision, campaign group Sinfin and Spondon against Incineration (SSAIN) took their challenge to the High Court, which culminated in Judge Davies ruling in favour of the planners in court in Manchester on March 28.
SSAIN have since launched an appeal against this decision, which is due to be heard at the Royal Courts of Jusitce, London, on October 7 2013.
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