From Monday (October 5), residents in the Hertfordshire borough will see their purple sacks replaced with 180-litre wheeled bins for residual waste – which will be collected fortnightly as opposed to once a week.
And, an additional 55-litre kerbside box for mixed paper and cardboard will also be rolled out – to be collected alongside the existing cans and plastic container and glass box every two weeks.
Food and garden waste will still be collected weekly in green wheeled bins, but householders will be urged to stop placing cardboard in them.
Broxbourne claims that the cardboard element in its organic waste stream is not breaking down into compost when sent for IVC processing, resulting in material being rejected and sent to landfill.
The new paper and cardboard containers are expected to prevent this issue, and larger bulky cardboard will only be collected if left under or at the side of the box.
In addition, the council claims it can save over £200,000 per year by introducing the recycling change and reducing the frequency and capacity of residual waste collections – a 9% reduction in service costs.
Separation
The move towards more separate collections comes despite Broxbourne’s past plans to ditch its 55-litre boxes in favour of a 240 litre wheeled bin for commingled recyclables in 2013. The authority was encouraged by the outcome of a judicial review into collections prior to the enforcement of TEEP legislation (see letsrecycle.com story).
However, the council has conceded that there are ‘environmental and financial reasons’ to roll out the new containers, including cuts to central government funding.
The council also cited Broxbourne’s overall composting and recycling performance – 35.04% in 2013/14 – as a factor behind the changes.
New rotas will automatically begin when residents receive their new containers over the course of October. Householders with six or more full time occupants and residents with mobility issues will be allowed to apply for a larger capacity wheeled bin.
A statement on the council website explains: “Broxbourne produces more residual waste per household than any other district in Hertfordshire as well as having the lowest recycling performance.
“There is a need to improve the Borough’s performance for environmental and financial reasons. To do so, the Council wants to reduce the amount of waste thrown away, encourage residents to recycle more and make it easier to recycle all types of cardboard.”
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