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Waste collection – it’s a mess
RUBBISH collection in
this country is becoming
a mess. Almost
every local authority
has different ways of gathering
it and, worryingly, more and
more are switching to fortnightly
collections.
The recycling imperative,
which most reasonable people
would happily sign up to, is
producing the most bizarre
anomalies. Some authorities
don't collect plastics, some do
and others only collect clear
plastics.
Some authorities collect green
waste, others don't and instead
expect residents to stick it in
their cars and drive up to 20
miles to dispose of it. Then
there are the bins of different
shapes and sizes with different
purposes, emptied on different
weeks.
In the Wear Valley, the council
has purchased thousands of
wheelie bins and, because of a
political impasse, is now storing
them at further cost to the
public purse while the matter is
sorted. In rural areas, critics of
wheelie bins say they are impractical
for isolated farms and
an eyesore to boot.
The fortnightly collection - not
implemented so far in Durham
City and Chester-le-Street - has
been the most controversial
change because of public
health fears. Those fears will
not have been soothed this
week with the news that a Government-
commissioned report
carried out by the Central Science
Laboratory, suggesting
that the risks increased with
less frequent collections, was
kept under wraps.
During the introduction of all
these changes, council taxes
have been rising, almost universally,
in excess of inflation.
Some authorities have threatened
residents who don't conform
to the new rules. It is little
wonder that people are fed up.
The danger is that many people's
willingness to recycle will
be weakened by this strange
mix of arrangements and the
perception that some local
councils are not being fair.
The new recycling arrangements
introduced, albeit with
some teething problems earlier
this year in Durham City,
Chester-le-Street and Easington,
have demonstrated there is
real public enthusiasm for responsible
disposal of waste. Indeed,
the teething problems
were largely caused because
the firm responsible greatly underestimated
the amounts of
the materials the green citizens
of Durham were going to put
out for collection.
A priority for the new unitary
council should be a common
approach with variations permitted
only between urban and
rural areas. Fortnightly collections
- surely a cost-saving
temptation for any new county
waste supremo - should be resisted.
If people become very disenchanted,
there is a risk that flytipping,
particularly in rural
areas, will increase - an unpleasant
prospect.
1:21pm Friday 6th June 2008
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CommentPosted by: DB on 9:25pm Sat 21 Jun 08
I would urge DCC to use Derwentside DC as a model for waste collection. They don't get much right, but they have with this.
It is fortnightly, and I was sceptical about it, but it works, and now we have a bin for garden waste it is a fine service, and the fortnightly collections force you to recycle (and your given an adequate bin to do it in that accepts a wide range of materials) so it's no bad thing.
I would urge DCC to use Derwentside DC as a model for waste collection. They don't get much right, but they have with this.
It is fortnightly, and I was sceptical about it, but it works, and now we have a bin for garden waste it is a fine service, and the fortnightly collections force you to recycle (and your given an adequate bin to do it in that accepts a wide range of materials) so it's no bad thing.
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