Recycling record mars rural council&#39s glowing refuse report

An Audit Commission report has awarded the authority two stars for its refuse and recycling service, which it said was “good”. The council's refuse collection was judged to put it in the top 25% of local authorities for low costs, few missed bins and low amount of waste produced per household.

But although performance on recycling was “about average,” the report said it urgently needed improvement.

The Audit Commission's Edwina Child said: “Mid Suffolk runs a cost effective refuse collection service and its recycling through &#39b;ring' sites has been working well. But it is now falling behind other councils on recycling and needs to act urgently to meet challenging government targets.”

Paul Lewis, waste and environmental coordinator for the council said he was not surprised at the report. “We are pleased that the refuse collection has been judged to be 'good,'” he said. “Ninety-six per cent of residents are either fairly or very satisfied with our refuse collection.”

But he admitted that recycling needs to be extended. “We have got to fundamentally alter the service we provide,” he said. “Only 70% of residents are satisfied with our recycling service.”

Kerbside
Recycling in Mid Suffolk currently consists only of bring banks. But the inspectors were optimistic that plans to introduce kerbside collections would help the council meet recycling targets.

Mid Suffolk is planning to begin kerbside collections using twin wheeled bins. Beginning in March 2003, the bins will collect paper, card, plastic and metals from 5,500 homes. This may be extended to 6,000 if a bid for around 400,000 of DEFRA funds is successful.

The scheme will be extended to the whole district by January 2005. The authority is also planning to extend its 90 bring banks, placing more on discreet sites outside villages, and in the long-term, may consider kerbside collections of glass to its more urban areas.

Mr Lewis said he thought the council would have no problems meeting their 2005-06 target of 24% recycling as long as there were kerbside schemes. The recycling scheme will be overseen by the authority's first full-time waste management officer, who begins in October.

Mr Lewis attributed the success of the council's refuse collection to the fact that sacks and bins are not provided and many people compost their own green waste.