The proposed trial is intended to improve recycling rates and reduce emissions from collection vehicles. Mid Devon says it would help the district meet government guidelines to recycle 65% of household waste by 2035 and Devon’s proposed 60% target rate by 2025.
The environment group’s recommendation will now be put before the council’s cabinet on 3 December.
Councillor Colin Slade, cabinet member for the environment, said: “This council is committed to supporting our climate pledge by reducing our carbon footprint, cutting the amount of waste we produce and improving the proportion we recycle.
“This is a small but significant change towards our environmental ambitions and one we hope our residents will support.”
If approved, the trial, which will include both rural and urban areas, could begin in early summer 2021 and will last for a minimum of three months.
Options
Three of the four options considered by the council involve moving from the current two-weekly collection of residual waste to a three-weekly collection.
Two of the options would see residents provided with a 180L wheeled bin for their residual waste. It is estimated the one-off cost for the supply and delivery of the bins would be £900,000.
Weekly food collections and garden waste collections would be unaffected under the three options, while recycling collections would remain the same or be increased to weekly.
The fourth option is a continuation of the district’s current regime for waste and recycling.
Trial
If approved, 1,000 households will take part in the trial to assess the impact of moving to a new system.
“This is a small but significant change towards our environmental ambitions”
A review carried out for the council by consultancy WYG suggested the introduction of three-weekly collections would cut residual waste by 15.73%.
Mid Devon has not implemented any significant changes to its waste collections since 2015, when it introduced weekly food and chargeable garden waste collections
The council says it is now looking to follow many others local authorities, including neighbouring Somerset, who have “successfully” implemented three-weekly residual waste schemes. Last month the Somerset Waste Partnership launched its Recycle More service, which will see the gradual introduction of three-weekly residual collections across the county (see letsrecycle.com story).
Mid Devon
As of 2018, Mid Devon was estimated to have a population of just under 82,000. In the 2018/19 financial year the district had a recycling rate of 53.5%. This was above the national average of 45.1%.
Mid Devon’s collection services are operated in-house.
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