Council waste services coping well in hot weather

Well-established schemes collecting residual waste each fortnight have said residents are now used to the system.

But, some councils with new schemes being introduced have run into some difficulties caused by the hot weather – and the impact of the World Cup – encouraging more waste to be produced by householders.

In a snap survey carried out by letsrecycle.com yesterday, councils around the country said that complaints relating to decaying rubbish were generally no higher than usual.

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Council advice to residents to double wrap food waste, clean bins and maximise recycling seems to be reaping benefits, keeping maggots and odours to a minimum.

Alternate-weekly collections see residual waste picked up from households one week, with recycling the next. The concept can be unpopular with residents because residual waste is collected only once a fortnight.

Established schemes
Eastleigh council in Hampshire, one of the first authorities to introduce alternate weekly collections in 1996, said its residents are now so used to the system that there have been few problems.

Maria Massarella, recycling research and development officer at Eastleigh borough council, said: “We've been running our alternate weekly scheme for 10 years now so everyone's pretty used to it. We haven't had any complaints. Residents are told to double wrap their food waste and make sure their bins are clean.”

It was also business as usual for Cherwell council in Oxfordshire, where the alternate weekly scheme has been running for three years.

Robbie Warden, waste policy and recycling officer the council, said: “We haven't had more complaints this year than usual. There is advice to help residents on our website prepared specially by our environmental health department.”

However, some councils have conceded that the heat is putting a strain on operations where alternate weekly systems are only just starting up.

World Cup
Newport city council, where alternate weekly collections are still being rolled out, said collection staff were “busier than ever” following the World Cup. A spokesman said: “Waste service teams have been working late into the night.”

However, he said the council had managed to avoid a rise in complaints through the heat, saying: “The only complaints you get are from residents who are not responsible for their waste anyway.”

Gateshead council has also revealed a marked impact from the World Cup – with seven tonnes more recyclable waste than usual placed in residents' kerbside boxes every day during June and July. Partly, this has been the result of heightened awareness campaigns and an incentive initiative.

Gateshead's cabinet member for the environment, Councillor Michael McNestry, said: “The amount of paper, glass and cans thrown out goes up hugely when high profile sporting events take place because people all around the country want to keep up with the newspapers and stay at home to have a drink watching the match.”

Barbecues
In Dacorum, Hertfordshire, an alternate weekly scheme was first tested by the council four years ago, but was only rolled out to the whole borough six months ago.

Assistant operations manager Graham Patterson told letsrecycle.com that the World Cup affect and the popularity of barbecues in the fine weather were the biggest issues. He said: “It's a bit difficult at the moment. We've just added glass collection in the last two months and combined with the World Cup and hot weather it has caused some operational problems. We've put two additional temporary crews on to help us sort the glass at the kerbside.

“With loads of hot weather on the weekends plastic and can collections are also going through the roof, probably from people having so many barbecues,” he added.

The Dacorum officer also highlighted the concern that the heat could affect lifting equipment in collection services, pointing out that in hot countries like Spain, collections are carried out at night. “If the heat continues, we may have to adjust our systems,” he said.

Green waste
Meanwhile East Lindsey district council in Lincolnshire is urging its residents to limit the amount of green waste they put out for collection. Collection staff have found the quantity of garden waste being put out “well above normal” with householders taking to their gardens in the good weather.

The council has seen some households putting out as many as 20 or 30 bags of green waste for collections, leading to officers declaring a maximum limit of 10 bags per property.

East Lindsey officers are also asking residents to put out their green waste bags as close to the day of collection as possible, because the bags are degrading too quickly.

Service manager Graham Dixon said: “When the sacks start to degrade it makes collections twice as difficult as we have to then collect the waste that is spilt.”