Chesterfield council announced earlier this month that it was starting a kerbside collection of kitchen and garden waste but concerns over guidelines on composting and the on-going problems caused by Foot and Mouth have meant that the council is now changing the scheme.
The news comes as the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), the Environment Agency and the Composting Association meet for the second time today (August 30) to discuss whether or not kitchen waste can be safely composted. A meeting was held in July to try and resolve some of the confusion which arose in June when the Environment Agency and DEFRA gave conflicting advice on the composting of kitchen waste.
Chesterfield council said that it is modifying its collection system to take account of the latest government restrictions imposed because of the “admittedly slight danger of spreading Foot and Mouth disease”.
The council will still supply households in three areas of the town with a green wheeled bin, but residents will only be able to put garden waste and cardboard in them.
However, as more space is now available in the green bin the council has added a plastic collection to the scheme. A coloured bag will be delivered to residents for plastic bottles and containers. The bag will be collected when the green bin is emptied and the plastic bottles will be taken to Sheffield for sorting and reprocessing.
The council hopes that by the new scheme will help residents reduce the amount of rubbish they put out for collection by half.
Councillor Mick Brady, said: “The scheme is slightly different from our original proposals, but the council has to show due concern for the serious national problem caused by Foot and Mouth. If the situation changes, we may be able to amend the scheme slightly to bring it more into line with what we originally planned. But even in its present format, this will make a major contribution towards drastically reducing the amount of waste we send to landfill sites.”
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