At a meeting last week, councillors agreed unanimously to issue formal notices to households who repeatedly leave out two or more bags of residual waste next to their 140 litre wheeled bin.
 Brighton & Hove is beginning to get tough with those ignoring its recycling message |
The council said education alone is no longer enough to crack down on excessive household waste generation.
On the new system, which will come into force immediately, officers will informally contact residents leaving out too much side waste. If the offending residents do not take action within three weeks, a formal notice will be issued and collection crews will refuse to collect side waste.
After a further three weeks, residents still leaving out too much side waste will face a 100 fine under the 2005 Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act.
The approach is being adopted both as an aim to reduce residual waste and encourage recycling, and could lead to the authority banning all side waste.
Speaking to letsrecycle.com yesterday, a spokeswoman for the council said: “It is vital that all residents play their part, particularly given that our local landfill site is due to close in 2008. These fines give the council the power to deal with the very small minority who consistently refuse to recycle their rubbish.”
Jan Jonker, head of strategy for the council's in-house waste collection service City Clean, said: “Unlike in places where they have introduced compulsory recycling, we will actually be issuing the fines because we don't want this measure to look like it has no teeth.”
” we will actually be issuing the fines because we don't want this measure to look like it has no teeth. “
– Jan Jonker, Brighton & Hove CC
Education
The scheme, which is hoped to encourage recycling, will not cost the council any money through enforcement as it will be combined with education work.
Since March, recycling officers have been working with refuse crews to identify households producing excessive amounts of waste, helping to increase recycling levels by 16.5% in some areas.
A spokeswoman at the council told letsrecycle.com: “In the past we worked with communications officers 'd;oor steppers' to try and encourage people to recycle more but we found that it was more effective to combine education and enforcement.”
Sustainable
The ban on side waste is the latest move by Brighton & Hove to reduce waste and boost recycling.
The introduction of small wheeled bins for residual waste, combined with large boxes for recycling, has seen recycling rates grow from an average of 19% to 25%.
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Meanwhile, the overall volume of waste collected in Brighton & Hove has reduced by 3% between 2003/04 and 2005/06.
Councillor Gill Mitchell, chair of Brighton & Hove's environment committee, said: “People in Brighton & Hove are waking up to the fact that by recycling they are paving the way to a more sustainable world for their children.”
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