Communities minister wades into Torbay bin furore

Communities minister Bob Neill has spoken out over the “bin blight” he believes has affected Torbay since the introduction of the area's new household waste and recycling collection service.

The modern day phenomenon of 'bin blight' is a cause for concern for many families

 
Communities minister Bob Neill

However, Tor2 – the joint venture company set up by Torbay council and its contractor May Gurney to roll-out the new service – claims to have increased participation and recycling rates since the system was introduced on September 6.

The service change has seen the council move from a fortnightly commingled dry recycling service to a weekly, source-separated system. However, the change has been tempered by issues such as missed collections and residents' confusion, with the call centre established to help roll-out the service receiving a large volume of calls (see letsrecycle.com story).

And, the issues raised by the introduction of the new service have now led to communities minister Bob Neill stressing that councils should assess service options closely before changing their system.

Commenting on Torbay, Mr Neill said: “The modern day phenomenon of 'bin blight' is a cause for concern for many families. Councils need to take into account the effect on local amenity and street scene when planning their waste policies, street by street.”

Mr Neill has already been vocal on the issue of waste collections – and most noticeably collection frequency – since the coalition government came to power. And, last month, he said councils should use local referendums to establish what council services they wanted, including what bin collection model (see letsrecycle.com story).

The comments from Mr Neill come one week after Torbay Mayor Nick Bye branded issues surrounding the service, which is intended to save the unitary authority £14 million over its operational life, as “unacceptable” (see letsrecycle.com story).

The service change was part of a £130 million contract signed with Norwich-based services firm May Gurney in March 2010.

Tor2

In response to ongoing media attention, Tor2 today (September 28) reported that residents had recycled 670 tonnes of material since the new kerbside waste and recycling service was introduced on September 6. The contractor said this was an 81% increase on the 370 tonnes collected in the last two full weeks under the previous twin-bin system.

Furthermore, Tor2 said participation levels by Torbay residents in the recycling service were “very high” and it expects to see the proportion of waste recycled climbing from 35% to 45% in the first year of operation, with the eventual aim of reaching at least 50% of household waste recycled by 2017.

“It is very encouraging that the new service has succeeded in increasing the amount of waste material being recycled by such a large amount in just two weeks,” said Alastair Campbell, project director for Tor2.

“These figures demonstrate how quickly Torbay residents have become familiar with the new system and how comfortable they are using it. This is good news for the environment and the local economy. Less waste is now going into landfill and more material is being reprocessed.”

Mr Campbell noted that company did recognise it is “early days” for the service and there was a need to “build on this performance”. He said: “Torbay residents should be congratulated on the speed with which they have embraced the new system and we thank them for their patience, co-operation and understanding.”

Councillor David Butt, cabinet member for community services, said: “This is really encouraging news. We knew that we could not continue with the system as it stood, but we also recognised that change is a difficult process and Torbay has particular issues that need addressing.

“While we still have some issues to resolve, we are confident that in time we will have a scheme that all Torbay residents can be really proud of.”