A report has been sent to the city council's executive board, recommending moving to an alternate weekly kerbside recycling and refuse collection service. The board is to meet on January 16 to discuss the options.
” Oxford's new recycling scheme will be a step change – good for the environment, for residents and for our workforce. “
– Cllr John Tanner, Oxford CC
Along with new collection arrangements, an extension of the existing green waste collection service is proposed, as well as the possibility of recycling more materials, including plastics or glass, from Oxford households.
It is hoped that the city's first wheeled bins could be phased in over six months before October this year, helping ambitions to double city recycling rates.
Councillor John Tanner, executive member for environment, said: “Oxford's new recycling scheme will be a step change – good for the environment, for residents and for our workforce. We want to know what residents think and we will be consulting widely about our new collection and recycling service.
“We hope to expand the garden waste and cardboard collection service across the City and that we can introduce new materials, like plastic bottles, that we can collect and recycle,” Cllr Tanner added.
Oxford residents currently have their household refuse and recyclables collected on a weekly basis, with paper, cans, glass and textiles collected via green boxes. The garden waste collection scheme is provided for 13,500 homes every two weeks.
Rates
Recycling rates in the city have now hit 17%, but the city council has an eye on catching up with neighbouring Cherwell district council, which is achieving a 45% recycling rate.
The new scheme would require about 2,175,000 in capital funding for new containers and vehicles, as well as a further 1 million in revenue spending over 2005/6 and 2007/08. The city council is hoping to gain some support from the Oxfordshire Waste Partnership.
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Once a public consultation regarding the new service has been completed, a further report into the matter is expected to be submitted to the executive board in April.
Cllr Tanner said: “We hope that these new ways will increase our combined recycling and composting targets to 45 per cent and encourage more people to recycle more goods.”
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