Cash strapped Shropshire Council has agreed to start charging for collecting garden and food waste in the green bin. It estimates this will bring in £4 million a year. The cost for the opt-in service is expected to be £52 a year, £1 a week. Many people will think the service worth that much. Others will not want to pay because they think it is not worth the cost, because they only generate a small amount of green and food waste or because they feel they have already paid for the service through their council tax. What is clear is that this move will reduce the amount of green and food waste collected. Some of green waste will be home composted. Perhaps rather more will go in the black bin to be incinerated. Some will be fly tipped. This move will damage recycling rates and add to Shropshire Council’s growing […]
Tag: recycling
Shropshire Council thinks of charging for green bin collection – it shouldn’t
In the Shropshire Star Ian Nellings, cabinet member for waste management, saidd: “I do want to make clear that we have no current plans to charge for garden waste collections.” The phrase “no current plans” has been well rehearsed by politicians through the ages and does not mean no future plans, or that plans are not being developed. And the possibility of changing for garden waste is mentioned a number of times in a paper to a recent meeting of the Place Overview Committee. The paper did not ask the committee to back charges but after an intervention by Green Party leader Julian Dean, it refused to rule charges out. Shropshire Council is strapped for cash. We should not be surprised if a proposal for charging for green waste is seen very soon.
Bin collection days to change from next month
As many will now know, waste and recycling collection days are set to change for many households across Shropshire and here in Ludlow. Across the county, 75% of households will see their day of collection change (77% in South Shropshire). Of the 16,144 households affected in South Shropshire, 2,976 (14%) would face an 18-day gap between collections due to the changes. To prevent overflowing bins, they households will receive an additional collection based on the original collection day. Households in the south (the former South Shropshire and Bridgenorth District Council areas) will also see a change to their recycling collections. The green bin will be collected on the same day as the purple bin (hard recyclables) and the blue bag (paper).
Recycling bins to rolled out in May – book yours now
Shropshire councillors agreed on Thursday to spend nearly £3 million on new 240 litre wheelie bins to be distributed to households across Shropshire, beginning in South Shropshire in May. These need to be booked online or by ringing 0345 678 9007. This is an overdue move. Myself and fellow councillors have been pressing for wheelie bins for recycling for years. We wanted to prevent the frequent wind blow of plastics from open tubs onto our streets. There are other benefits from having wheelie bins. They are easier to manoeuvre. The recycling operatives will no longer have to empty tubs into wheelie bins before loading the recycling into the crusher. And they will encourage greater recycling at a time when local recycling rates are falling. If people can’t accommodate a wheelie bin or would prefer to keep the black tubs that’s fine. Shropshire Council also won’t be taking back the existing […]
Shropshire Council looks to reopening of biodigester but employment land in Ludlow will remain scarce
Shropshire Council today said that the biodigester facility on Coder Road could reopen but not for a while. The driver is the government’s resources and recycling strategy which, though the forthcoming Environment Bill is expected to insist that councils collect food waste separately from garden waste. If new life is breathed into the biodigester it will be a back to the future moment for Ludlow, when once again we will have food waste caddies and separate collection. Ludlow companies are struggling to find space to expand. It is vital that the proposed employment site south of Sheet Road opposite the Eco Park is prepared for use as soon as possible. Unfortunately, Shropshire Council, which is investing £1M in a solar farm in Oswestry to supply a packaging business, even though there will only be a minimal financial return to the council, doesn’t seem prepared to buy the land and get […]