More councils looking to three-weekly refuse collections

Launch of the trial in East Devon comes as Powys council in central Wales also unveiled plans to switch to a three-weekly collection rota for residual waste.

East Devon district council hopes that reducing the frequency of refuse collections while boosting recycling capacity will see an increase in the amount residents recycle overall. In 2013/14, the council recorded an overall recycling rate of 44.75%.

Suez, previously SITA UK, was awarded the East Devon collection contract in 2006. Since that time, the council introduced bi-weekly collections of residual waste, which was supported via a communications campaign with the Devon Waste Partnership (see letsrecycle.com story).

The trial, which will involve around 1,800 households in Feniton and Exmouth, comes ahead of changes to East Devon’s recycling collection contract next year, which is due to expire in March 2016. The council believes that, if successful, the modified arrangements could be extended across the district from next year.

Recycling

The trial will also see residents able to add cardboard and mixed plastics such as tubs, pots and trays to their commingled green recycling boxes. In addition, households will receive a 70-litre reusable sack which can be used for extra recyclables. Weekly food waste collections will be unaffected.

Councillor Iain Chubb, the council’s portfolio holder for the Environment, said that the trial would be closely monitored and evaluated before any decision was made on rolling out a similar service to all East Devon households.

He said: “Our householders have asked us for some time now, through residents’ surveys, to help them recycle more and, linked to our aim to improve our current recycling rate of around 44%, we think this trial scheme will work well for them.

“We’re not the first council to introduce a scheme such as this. Falkirk and Bury Councils have already successfully implemented three weekly waste collections across their areas.”

Powys

Powys council launched a consultation on Friday (July 31) asking residents for views on the move towards a three-weekly residual waste collection system from this autumn. The measure is being considered to reduce costs and to meet the Welsh Government’s 64% by 2020 recycling target.

Weekly recycling and food waste collections will continue to be provided by the council and will be unaffected by any changes to the residual collection schedule.

Powys’ cabinet member for environment and sustainability, councillor John Powell said: “Continuing reductions to public sector funding have left the council having to reduce its spending by £27m over the next three years.

“We would encourage residents to complete the survey to provide their views to help shape the future of rubbish collections in Powys.

“We would also like to urge residents to reduce, reuse and recycle their waste at every opportunity to minimise the amount of rubbish placed in the wheeled bin.”

The consultation closes on August 28.

Other councils that are considering or have already adopted three-weekly refuse collections in the UK include Bury, Rochdale, Harborough, Somerset, East Staffordshire, Fife, Falkirk and Gwynedd.