Greenwich to move to bi-weekly waste collections in 2023
In London, the Royal Borough of Greenwich has announced that it will collect residual waste bi-weekly from February 2023, with recycling and food waste collection to remain weekly.
The switch to collecting residual waste every two weeks comes after a six-week consultation in 2020 which confirmed that most residents understood the need for the proposed changes, the authority said. It explained that “decreasing the amount of generated general waste” will help support the Mayor of London’s Environment Strategy target to reach a London-wide recycling rate of 50% by 2025.
Councillor Anthony Okereke said: “We are facing a climate emergency and by making this change, we can all play a part in shaping a greener future. Improving our recycling habits means less waste is incinerated and less waste collections need to be made, lowering our vehicle emissions.”
Councillor Averil Lekau, deputy leader of the council and cabinet member climate change, environment and transport, added: “These changes will help shape a greener future for our residents and generations to come and help us move towards becoming a zero-waste borough.”
The change will affect most kerbside properties, with those who have a 140l general waste bin able to upgrade to 240l bin to ensure enough space between collections.
Gateshead contamination approaches ‘unsustainable levels’
Gateshead council has urged its residents to only place recyclable items in their recycling bin, as the level of contamination in recycling bins continues to rise.
The council explained that along with bottles, cans and other recyclable materials, some residents are also putting in black bags and carrier bags, soiled nappies, food waste, greasy takeaway boxes and full bottles of liquids. As a result, the whole bin – sometimes an entire lorry load – is contaminated, “rendering tonnes of recyclable materials unusable.”
Approximately 13% of the recycling collected annually was contaminated pre-pandemic. This increased to 16% in 2020, reaching nearly 22% in 2021. Consequently, over 3,500 tonnes of potentially recyclable items were wasted.
Marc Morley, service director for highways and waste, said the increasing amount of contamination is only harming residents.
“At the current rate of close to 22%, paying for the disposal of contaminated recyclable loads will cost us close to £400,000. These are funds that could otherwise be spent on other important local services.”
To help tackle this issue, the council pointed its residents towards its recycling guidelines.
Woman fined for dumped waste
Test Valley borough council said that an Andover woman whose bags of waste were found dumped before she purchased waste bins has been fined almost £1,000.
The council reported that Paula Araujo, 34, of Halter Way, Andover, moved into the property in September last year, but didn’t purchase a household waste or recycling bin to be collected by the council.
Ms Araujo claimed she had put nine bags of food and plastic bottles outside ready for collection, before they were then found on land near Ox Drove in Picket Piece, the council continued.
Surcharge
According to the local authority, Ms Araujo was fined £480 at Basingstoke Magistrates Court. She was also ordered to pay £458 in costs and a £48 victim surcharge for breaching her duty of care for her waste.
Portfolio holder, Councillor Nick Adams-King, said: “It is residents’ responsibility to know what is happening with their waste. Saying that you assume that our waste collection teams had just picked up the bags is not good enough.”
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