In a report to go before the environmental and development service committee tomorrow (12 August), the council stated that the bring banks are “constantly misused”, leading to contamination, fly-tipping, and the potential for hazardous waste to be inadvertently collected.
When evaluating the impact of removing the banks, the council explains that there are alternative ways to recycle all materials that can be deposited at the sites.
It adds that the anti-social behaviour often associated with the sites “can be a serious issue for residents in the immediate vicinity”.
Bring banks will be removed from 1 October in the Castle Gresley, Hatton, Hilton, Midway, Melbourne, Ticknall and Wllington areas.
Decision
The decision follows a report undertaken by environmental consultancy Eunomia in 2020, to analyse the future of waste collection services in the district, in light of the Environment Bill.
In this analysis, Eunomia advised the bring banks be removed to ensure that residents “were not unfairly paying for traders” when others were not using the service correctly, given the high levels of contamination.
It was also noted that the removal of the bring banks would encourage residents to make use of other services such as the kerbside recycling service and household waste and recycling centres (HWRCs).
Consultation
In November 2020 the council decided that the banks be removed subject to the result of a
consultation with residents.
The council has now revealed that after issuing over 13,000 postcards for residents to state their views, 401 responses were received back which showed only 1.67% of residents raised any objection to the removal of the banks.
Savings
The council reported that the removal of the banks will not only present savings, but “more importantly” resources will be freed up to allow for more waste management activities around the district, improving general litter and fly tip removal.
Subscribe for free