KERBSIDE recycling wars broke out yesterday after a council was told to axe its popular waste collection system.
Householders in Denbighshire have been able to recycle waste in a single blue wheelie bin for 18 months, boosting the county’s recycling rates by more than 30%.
County officials say they are leading the way with 57.9% of rubbish now put to further use and out of landfill, already surpassing Welsh Assembly Government green targets for 2016.
The trouble is the system requires the waste, including plastic, glass, cardboard and paper, to be sorted later.
And the Assembly Government says its preferred method is for householders to sort their recycling themselves before collection, which is cheaper and better for the environment.
Now Denbighshire has launched a campaign to save their collection system which is threatened by potential financial penalties by WAG, which foots 80% of recycling costs in Wales.
Denbighshire expanded its “flagship recycling service” to a further 6,000 homes in March, claiming to be the “highest recycling county” in Wales.
Now it says the Assembly wants the council to dump its successful “blue bin” service and to go back to the recycling boxes it phased out 18 months ago.
The campaign, on the council’s website, entitled “back to boxes?” asks residents to ‘tell the WAG what they think of their plans’.
Denbighshire waste officer Alan Roberts said residents had voted 4:1 in favour of their new system with 86% happy with the recycling service overall.
“We have got a bit of a fight on our hands and we want to re-iterate how popular the scheme is with our residents. Some 93% participate in the recycling scheme. But there is a difference of philosophy between the WAG and where we are in Denbighshire.
“Frankly as a service provider we take the pragmatic view when faced with the most ambitious recycling targets in the UK. We have to capture hearts and minds of all our residents and provide the service they want.”
WAG thinks the alternative “kerbside sort” systems are better because council workers manually sort through the materials at the roadside, and leave behind any items that shouldn’t be there.
But Denbighshire believe its ‘commingled system’ is better because it is simple and convenient for residents.
A Welsh Assembly Government spokesperson said: “We are seeking views on whether a common and consistent system should be used across Wales, whether this should be our preferred kerbside sort system which is cheaper and better for the environment, and whether we should only provide extra funding to local authorities that choose to use this preferred system.
“This is a consultation. No decision has been made. We have commissioned a detailed study to compare the environmental, financial and social performance of each type of collection. We have asked Denbighshire county council to take part and it has refused.”
Mr Roberts maintained the study was “unfair”. Source - Daily Post
Householders in Denbighshire have been able to recycle waste in a single blue wheelie bin for 18 months, boosting the county’s recycling rates by more than 30%.
County officials say they are leading the way with 57.9% of rubbish now put to further use and out of landfill, already surpassing Welsh Assembly Government green targets for 2016.
The trouble is the system requires the waste, including plastic, glass, cardboard and paper, to be sorted later.
And the Assembly Government says its preferred method is for householders to sort their recycling themselves before collection, which is cheaper and better for the environment.
Now Denbighshire has launched a campaign to save their collection system which is threatened by potential financial penalties by WAG, which foots 80% of recycling costs in Wales.
Denbighshire expanded its “flagship recycling service” to a further 6,000 homes in March, claiming to be the “highest recycling county” in Wales.
Now it says the Assembly wants the council to dump its successful “blue bin” service and to go back to the recycling boxes it phased out 18 months ago.
The campaign, on the council’s website, entitled “back to boxes?” asks residents to ‘tell the WAG what they think of their plans’.
Denbighshire waste officer Alan Roberts said residents had voted 4:1 in favour of their new system with 86% happy with the recycling service overall.
“We have got a bit of a fight on our hands and we want to re-iterate how popular the scheme is with our residents. Some 93% participate in the recycling scheme. But there is a difference of philosophy between the WAG and where we are in Denbighshire.
“Frankly as a service provider we take the pragmatic view when faced with the most ambitious recycling targets in the UK. We have to capture hearts and minds of all our residents and provide the service they want.”
WAG thinks the alternative “kerbside sort” systems are better because council workers manually sort through the materials at the roadside, and leave behind any items that shouldn’t be there.
But Denbighshire believe its ‘commingled system’ is better because it is simple and convenient for residents.
A Welsh Assembly Government spokesperson said: “We are seeking views on whether a common and consistent system should be used across Wales, whether this should be our preferred kerbside sort system which is cheaper and better for the environment, and whether we should only provide extra funding to local authorities that choose to use this preferred system.
“This is a consultation. No decision has been made. We have commissioned a detailed study to compare the environmental, financial and social performance of each type of collection. We have asked Denbighshire county council to take part and it has refused.”
Mr Roberts maintained the study was “unfair”. Source - Daily Post
Denbighshire County Council article on this story can be seen at
http://www.denbighshire.gov.uk/en-gb/DNAP-87ZJM4
http://www.denbighshire.gov.uk/en-gb/DNAP-87ZJM4
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment