The Saturday service, which has been suspended since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, allowed residents to drop a range of large items into refuse collection vehicles (RCVs) at 55 locations around the Kent borough.
Prior to its suspension, the service collected more than 6,000 tonnes of waste since 2016.
However, everything apart from electrical items was sent for “incineration” rather than recycling, Tonbridge and Malling says, “as it was not possible to sort the rubbish.” In 2019/20, the final year before the service was suspended, just 72 tonnes of the material was recycled, while 1,153 tonnes was not.
A report which went before councillors on 7 September said reintroducing the service would have a “negative impact” on the borough’s current recycling rate. At 51.6%, Tonbridge and Malling’s household waste recycling rate was the highest in Kent in the 2020/21 financial year.
The report also noted the service required 10 HGV drivers to operate, while Kent county council had withdrawn a £9,000 per year subsidy following the opening of a recycling centre at Allington in May.
‘A difficult decision’
Cllr Piers Montague, the council’s cabinet member for technical and waste services, said: ‘‘This was a difficult decision but faced with the facts on the service’s environmental impact, a vote to reinstate this service would be a vote to reverse our improving recycling rates.
A vote to reinstate this service would be a vote to reverse our improving recycling rates
- Cllr Piers Montague, Tonbridge and Malling borough council’s cabinet member for technical and waste services
“Sending thousands of tonnes of rubbish for incineration when much of it could be repurposed goes against our belief in doing everything we can to minimise the impact of waste.
“Our borough is now well served with weekly kerbside collections, recycling centres and a bookable bulky service.
“By continuing to invest in these areas, I’m confident we can build on our strong track record of ensuring as much of our rubbish as possible is dealt with in an environmentally friendly way.”
Tonbridge and Malling
Tonbridge and Malling has an estimated population of more than 130,000. Waste management company Urbaser carries out collections across the borough under a contract awarded in 2018 (see letsrecycle.com story).
Despite dropping the Saturday service, the council says it will maintain bookable bulky waste collections. At the 7 September meeting, cabinet members gave their backing to reducing the fee for households eligible for council tax reduction from £17 to £12 from October. The current standard fee is £58 for the collection of up to six items.
Urbaser had to suspend recycling collections in Tonbridge and Malling for two weeks in June 2021 because of a shortage of drivers (see letsrecycle.com story).
POPs
Meanwhile, after an investigation found large levels of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in seating textiles and foams, the Environment Agency has warned councils that they must incinerate all upholstered waste domestic seating, such as sofas or armchairs (see letsrecycle.com story). The guidance also states this stream must not be mixed with other non-POPs wastes.
A spokesperson for Tonbridge and Malling borough council told letsrecycle.com that the new guidance had “no influence” on the decision not to reinstate a weekend bulky waste service, as it was made prior to the Environment Agency issuing its instructions.
The spokesperson said they were awaiting guidance from Kent county council, the local waste disposal authority, covering any changes they will make to their current disposal systems to comply with the new rules.
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