North Herts prepares for consistency with resident survey

The council explained that legislation such as consistent collections “will mean changes to our services”.

While “much of this is still unknown”, the council said: “We need to ensure that future contracts are fit for purpose and see us through the transition and ensure we are doing all we can to reduce our impact on the environment.”

The local authority’s waste is currently managed by Urbaser under a joint contract between North and East Herts councils that started in May 2018. Urbaser took over from Veolia (see letsrecycle.com story).

Survey

With less than three years left on the contract, the council said it has opened an online survey for residents to allow them to “share their current habits and seek their thoughts on potential future service changes”.

The survey also asks residents for their views on how best the district can minimise waste.

We've just opened an online survey asking you to share your current recycling habits and thoughts on potential future service changes, as well as how best to minimise waste to tackle #climatechange locally. Complete the survey by 21 August here: https://t.co/6xbm2ldLno pic.twitter.com/cMLMmw3BU4

— North Herts Council (@NorthHertsDC) July 23, 2022

The council says the responses will be used to design the service for procurement next year, ahead of the council’s contract ending in May 2025.

The survey can be found here and will close at midnight on 22 August. It features questions on residents’ thoughts about topics including the environment, types of properties, how full bins are and where information about recycling is received.

We want to understand what’s working now and what could be improved

– Cllr Amy Allen, North Herts council

Cllr Amy Allen, executive member for recycling and waste management, said: “We know how important our waste, recycling and street cleansing services are to people, which is why we want to understand what’s working now and what could be improved for the future. I look forward to hearing everyone’s views in the coming weeks.”

Collections

North Herts offers councils a purple bin for residual waste and a grey bin for mixed recycling such as plastic, glass, cartons, cans, cardboard and brown paper. It also runs a blue box for paper, a food waste collection service and a separate textiles and waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) service.

North Herts serves around 133,000 residents and recorded a 55.9% recycling rate in 2020/21.