The council has been running a pilot green waste collection service in some areas of the borough since April last year, offering residents either a standard 240 litre green wheeled bin or biodegradable sacks.
However, some residents with larger gardens have said the standard-sized bin, collected once a fortnight, is not sufficient for the amount of green waste they generate. Some have been using extra sacks alongside their bins, and the council said it has had problems collecting the material.
Neil Townrow, environmental services officer at Bedford council said: “26,000 households were offered a bin or had the option of using a sack if they only collected a small amount of green waste. However, some residents in Biddenham who ordered bins, also got hold of sacks and have taken to putting these out as well as the bins.”
“Our vehicles are all ready at full capacity and we do not have extra space at the moment,” he added.
The council said it has been collecting the extra bags and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future, but Mr Townrow said: “We will be making a note of the households who are putting out bags with their bins and will make sure they do not get issued with any bags in the future.”
Residents have been reporting green waste being left out uncollected on the streets of Bedford. The problem appears to have been made worse because wheeled bins were made available to householders weeks in advance of the start of the scheme's expansion on October 9, with householders unclear as to when the scheme was to begin.
The council finished its pilot scheme for dry recyclables and green waste last month and is currently rolling out the permanent, expanded scheme. This will include an orange bag for recyclables and a sack or bin for green waste for all 62,000 households. Alternate weekly waste collections were considered but were strongly opposed and the council will continue to collect residual waste on a weekly basis.
More than 4,500 tonnes of dry recyclables and green garden waste have been collected since the initial recycling service was introduced in April 2003. Bedford currently has a household waste recycling rate of about 11% with a government-set target to reach a 18% by 2005/6, which Mr Townrow said the council is expecting to meet.
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