The local authority made the switch from a weekly residual service in October 2014, in a bid to shave £400,000 from its budget in efficiency savings.
Councillors were told at a meeting on Friday (March 20) that the move has been “embraced” by residents, with the tonnage of recycling collected from the kerbside increasing by more than 1,000 tonnes in the five months since the switch compared to the same period 12 months earlier.
The majority of households in Darlington present their recyclables for collection in three containers – a wheeled bin for plastics and metals, a caddy for paper and card and a green box for glass bottles and jars. Households also have a wheeled bin for residual waste, which had previously been collected on a weekly basis.
Since the switch from a weekly to a fortnightly service for residual waste in October, the council claims that it is on target to achieve the savings it had originally forecast when approving the change.
Recycling
It is also hoped that the move will help to increase the borough’s recycling rate beyond the 33.2% level recorded during 2013/14.
In documents presented to councillors on Friday, council officers stated: “Generally the overall implementation of the revised weekly collection service was extremely successful and residents have accepted the change and embraced the need to separate material from general household for recycling. The £100,000 saving identified in the MTFP [Medium Term Financial Plan] for 2014/15 will be achieved and the ongoing annual saving of £400,000 for 2015/16 will also be delivered.
“Since the introduction of the revised weekly collection service, the amount of material collected at the kerbside has risen. For the same period, October to February, from 1,652 in 2013/14 to 2,845 tonnes in 2014/15, an increase of 72%. It is anticipated that with a full year of operation and further publicity, overall recycling tonnages will be in excess of 7,000 per annum.”
The changes to collection frequency followed the roll-out of a wheeled bin collection service for residual waste across the borough in June 2013. Previously residents had been required to present residual waste in black sacks for collection. The council has claimed that the move has improved the cleanliness of back lanes as a result of containment of refuse on collection days.
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