Backward step on bins

30 Sep 11
Nicola Peake

The government’s announcement of a £250m fund to encourage councils to collect waste on a weekly basis smacks of populism and runs contrary to moves to encourage localism

Weekly collections of food and recyclable waste with alternate weekly collections for residual waste are not a retrograde step but a reflection of the fact that waste collection has fundamentally changed in the last five years.

While it is welcome that additional funds are being made available to improve recycling and waste collection services, calling for a return to weekly waste collections misses the point. Funds would be far better directed at boosting recycling, particularly increasing food waste collections.

Because government and European Union policies mean we can no longer place waste into landfill, more needs to be recycled. Weekly food waste and recycling collections, coupled with alternate weekly collections for residual waste, are the most cost efficient, effective and ecologically friendly way to deliver this new waste service and boost recycling.

Populist measures such as calling for a return to weekly waste collections seem to run contrary to the government’s stated desire to delegate power to local authorities and give them the ability to select the most appropriate services for their area.

The reality is that weekly collections for food and recyclable waste coupled with alternate weekly collections for residual waste are helping UK councils achieve recycling rates of up to 70% of the domestic waste stream – a fantastic achievement.

The government should redirect the £250m fund to schemes that boost recycling and build on the excellent progress already made by UK local authorities to introduce a new generation of recycling and waste collection services.

Nicola Peake is managing director of May Gurney Environmental Services

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