Councils prepare to tackle extra Bank Holiday waste

Many councils across the UK are rescheduling their waste collections over the next two weeks and even laying on extra services to minimise disruption caused by the Easter and Royal Wedding bank holidays.

The main device being employed by councils is the introduction of collections on Saturdays to ensure any extra waste arisings are managed over the long weekends.

A number of local authorities, such as the London borough of Ealing, North Devon and Brighton city councils, have shifted collections back by a day to make room for the Bank Holidays.

Therefore collections routinely carried out on a Monday will take place on the Tuesday and so on with Friday collections taking place on Saturday. And, the Somerset Waste Partnership will also be carrying out collections on Sunday May 1 to ensure as minimal disruption as possible.

However, others, such as Bromsgrove district council and Warrington borough council have announced that collections will be unaffected and are set to take place on Good Friday (April 22), Easter Monday (April 25) and the day of the Royal Wedding (April 29) as with any normal week.

Cotswold district council has opted to postpone collections on the day of the Royal Wedding, with Friday collections shifted to the Saturday. The council intends to carry out collections as normal on both Easter Monday and the May Day Bank Holiday.

Scott Williams, waste manager at the council, said: We are hoping that most residents will understand that the only day affected by changes to collection arrangements is Friday 29 April. Everything else is business as usual.

Collectors

The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents 419 councils in England and Wales, has praised the bin men and women continuing to collect material over the Bank Holidays.

Vice-chair of the LGA environment board, Councillor Clyde Loakes said: Britains bin men and women work incredibly hard clearing away the 12.5 million tonnes of waste thrown out by households every year, often making the rounds on Bank Holidays when many of the rest of us get to sleep in.

“While it will be business as usual in many areas some local authorities have offered their hard working bin collectors a well-earned break.

In a bid to ensure householders do not miss collections, Cllr Loakes has called on them to check council websites and promotional literature.

A source at one council said that refuse collectors were being paid double-time plus 150 in order to work on the Royal Wedding Day. This was with a view to ensuring the council did not fall behind in the wake of four Bank Holidays falling in an 11-day period.

Extra

It is anticipated that the Easter weekend will generate an extra 4,500 tonnes of packaging waste, while councils are also expecting increased waste generated by street parties and celebrations being held to mark the Royal Wedding.

In order to combat additional waste caused by the Royal nuptials, Brentwood borough council – which falls within the constituency of communities secretary Eric Pickles intends to lay on extra, bookable services for residents.

This will see residents able to contact the council to organise an additional collection of waste and recycling, to take place on Saturday April 30, following street parties.

However, Mike Trim, head of cleansing and street services at Exeter city council, told letsrecycle.com that he did not envision any major impact on waste arisings from Royal Wedding celebrations.

He said: What we are going to try to is get to those areas that are having street parties early before they set up to carry out their Friday collections but if not we will collect them on the Saturday.

Mr Trim added that any households that would normally have their bins collected on Monday will have their collections done on the following Saturday. This is intended to minimise disruption and avoid the practice employed by some councils of pushing back collection days to the next one.

Furthermore, Mr Trim said that the local authority along with all other waste collection authorities in Devon had struck a deal with Devon county council to allow tipping facilities to be opened on the Royal Wedding day, allowing waste to be transferred.

Composting

Other councils, such as Worcestershire county council, have urged residents to make use of home composting over the Easter weekend and limit trips to household waste and recycling centres.

Christopher Atkinson, senior waste prevention officer at the council, said: As the weather improves many people like to get outside and tidy the garden ready for the summer months, this produces a massive increase in the amount of green waste which our residents need to dispose of.

Composting is an excellent way to turn this waste into a useful product for the garden, and will also save you making a trip to a household recycling centre.”

Teignbridge district council in South Devon has laid on practical tips to help residents reduce waste during the celebrations. These include purchasing drinks in larger bottles to save resources, freeze leftovers to reuse as packed lunches and using textile table cloths rather than plastic ones.