Colchester sets limit on household green waste collections

Householders are being told that from today they can fill three white plastic bags of green waste each fortnight, and any excess material must be either used in the garden or taken to the council civic amenity site.

Colchester began its green waste collection scheme last year with the help of a Defra grant, with householders given three white polypropylene sacks by the council each fortnight.

” Some residents left an overwhelming amount of garden waste out for collection.“
– Cllr Peter Chillingworth, Colchester BC
But during the peak season last year, the council struggled to cope with the amount of green waste that residents were leaving out.

Peter Chillingworth, portfolio holder for street care and waste services, said: “Some residents left an overwhelming amount of garden waste out for collection. This made it increasingly difficult for us to complete all of the planned collections on time, which had a knock on effect on other areas of the borough.”

The council sends its green waste to Sussex-based TJ Composting, but the site is limited in the number of vehicle movements each day through its planning permission.

Excess
As a result, the council has had to send excess material to additional composting facilities in Ipswich and Ongar, although it insists that local accusations that material went to landfill were unfounded.

However, to ensure that similar capacity problems do not occur this year residents have been asked to keep to the three-bag limit. The council distributed leaflets in March warning residents of the limit, and posters are also be on display throughout the borough.

Residents with more than three bags worth of garden waste are being encouraged to compost it along with their kitchen waste in subsidised home composting containers or to take it to the Shrub End civic amenity site.

Colchester recycled or composted about 25% of its waste in 2003/04, missing its tough 28% government-set target. The borough must reach a 30% target in 2005/06. The council runs an alternate-weekly kerbside recycling system, with green waste and plastic separately collected one week, while the other week sees paper, card, glass, cans, foil collected.

Flats
Colchester is also about to embark on a pilot scheme for the collection of recyclables from flats. The 12-month trial will run in 62 locations across the borough, with the aid of a Defra grant. A total of 1,600 households will be included on the scheme, and if it goes well the council could expand the service.

Cllr Chillingworth told letsrecycle.com that residents in flats will be given a re-usable plastic sack with which to carry recyclable plastic, glass and cans to communal bring banks located near their properties. The council is currently in the procurement process for the collection service and hopes to decide on its contractor in the coming weeks.

Cllr Chillingworth said: “Flats are one area we have yet to reach in our bid to get the whole of Colchester recycling. We will be monitoring the results, as well as providing information to the residents on how to use the scheme. If the trial is a success I have no doubt we will roll it out to the rest of the borough.”