Backlash against green waste collection charges

Councilsare facing a backlash from residents over moves to charge for green waste collection.

Over the past year, more and more local authorities havestarted charging for green waste collectionsin order to help plug holes in their budgets(see letsrecycle.com strory).

But, residents in Newcastle, Melton in Leicestershire and Bracknell Forest in Berkshireare the latest tocome out against the charges, which they claim are equivalent to a stealth tax.

In Melton from last week (April 2), residents have had to pay an annual 32 subscription fee to waste firm Biffa if they want to receive fortnight collection of one garden waste bin a service which was previously free.

A petition calling for the charge to be dropped, mounted by local resident Rob Watson, has secured 1,800 signatures. This is in addition to an e-petition which has attracted 22 signatures.

A spokesman for the council told letsrecycle.com: Obviously there are people who are upset with the service. There has been a petition which has attracted over 1,000 signatures, which means there has to be a council meeting to address it.

Bracknell Forest

Meanwhile, in Bracknell Forest, residents who purchased a brown garden waste bin from the council on or after December 5 2011have hadto pay 26 annual fee to continue having their green waste collected from April 2. All residents who purchased a bin before then are exempt from paying the charge for a year.

In the past residents have only been charged 30.75 for a brown bin, on the understanding that they would continue to receive free collections which has caused particular concern among residents. One told the Bracknell Forest Standard lastmonth that the charge amounted to a stealth tax.

Commenting on the change, Steve Loudoun, chief executive officer for environment and public protection at the council, said: The current arrangement whereby non users of the service are subsidising those who do not use it, is neither fair nor sustainable.

Collection of garden waste is a discretionary service and the charge to empty brown bins will contribute to the overall shortfall in the councils budget.

Newcastle

In Newcastle meanwhile, only 18,000 of a possible 75,000 residents have signed up to a charged-for garden waste collection service which is being introduced in the city in May 2012. This will see residents pay 20 a year to have their green waste collected. The move has been criticised by both the local Friends of the Earth group and Liberal Democrats – which claims that the Labour-run council is ‘slashing’ neighbourhood services.

The councils budget document for 2012/13 acknowledges that there is a risk that not everyone who currently receives the service will want to pay for it and that recycling rates may suffer as a result.

Rob Nichols, head of environmental services at the council, said: We recognise the importance of the environment but realistically people need to do their little bit. People are sharing a bin and others are happy to take green waste to one of the three recycling centres weve got.

He added: Many other local councils already charge, such as Northumberland, and some dont even provide it at all. We hope to not see an increase in landfill. Garden waste collected in normal bins will be sorted at either the Byker or Ellington centres and garden waste turned into grey compost which will be owned by SITA UK, our external contractor.

Trend

Commenting on the trend, Joy Blizzard, chair of the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC), told letsrecycle.com that she understood why councils were moving to charged for collections for green waste.

She said: In the wider context of budget cuts I can understand why councils are looking at reducing green waste collection services. It is not like it is the only option for composters to recycle green waste there is also home composting and recycling centres.

I can see why residents like them as they are easy but the message has to be to reduce at source and handling material at home has to be preferable.

Earlier this year, North East Lincolnshire scrapped plans to charge for garden waste collection following fears that the move could reduce its recycling rate by 7% (see letsrecycle.com story).