Council not planning to bring back weekly bin collections
Council bosses say they have no plans to return to weekly bin collections – a year after vowing to look at bringing them back.
North Lincolnshire Council had previously said it was "seriously considering" bringing back household waste collections every seven days when the Government floated the idea of offering £100 million to councils.
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Council bosses have no plans to return to weekly bin collections in North Lincolnshire
The authority later refused to rule out going weekly when the Government shelved those plans in June last year.
And the council was maintaining a similar stance when a £250 million fund for English councils which guaranteed weekly collections for five years was then announced by ministers in September.
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But now, councillors have revealed they have no current plans to alter the fortnightly cycle, which came into force in the Scunthorpe area in February 2006.
North Lincolnshire Council currently has a recycling rate of 51.8 per cent, putting it in the top 10 per cent in the country.
Councillor Nigel Sherwood, cabinet member for highways and neighbourhoods, said this was the main reason for keeping fortnightly bin collections in place.
He said: "The main drive is to encourage people to recycle.
"We don't want to see recycling rates drop and all of the professionals and experts tell us if we go back to weekly collections, we will see a recycling drop.
"We want to encourage recycling and get things moving that way to keep our targets up.
"The residents of North Lincolnshire are very good at recycling.
"They have engaged with it and got used to it and they are getting involved with it, which is excellent for the area, the environment and the country."
Mr Sherwood said any Government funding accessed by going back to weekly collections would be outweighed by the cost of the scheme to the council.
He said: "It is my understanding that there has been some Government money to encourage local authorities to go back to weekly collections.
"The only problem is there are strings attached to it.
"The money would only be for one year and you have to be set up by a certain date.
"The money is only for one year but you have to commit to five years."
Diana Sykes, 60, of North Street, Winterton, said she was quite happy with the fortnightly bin collection.
She said: "There are only the two of us in our house.
"It would be different for people who have children at home. I don't find the bins need to be emptied more than that.
"I have been recycling for quite a while now.
"It is good to see North Lincolnshire Council encouraging recycling. It is better for the environment and uses less money to go into landfills.
"These holes are going to be filled up sooner rather than later.
"Hopefully, for the majority of people, it will encourage them to recycle."
Comments
by IT_MAN
Friday, June 15 2012, 8:30PM
“No problems with the fortnightly bin collections but could the bin men please place the empty bins just inside peoples driveways if space to save blocking pavements all day, I would have thought this would come under HSE, it would make it safer for old people, mobility scooters and buggies.
Maybe use and unemployed young person to follow bin men putting bins tidy, appenticeship in bin collections, years ago we were used as tea boys in first year. It would be better than Tesco.”
by Hunky_n_Funky
Friday, June 15 2012, 11:23AM
“After getting used to the fortnightly collection system, my opinion is that the system does work fairly well, provided you don't miss your collection - most hoseholds can't fit a full 4 weeks worth of refuse in their bins. Still, aside from doing our bit for the environment, it's very satisfying to see that Scunthorpe is amongst the best in the country at something!
I have to be very careful on red/brown bin days, as I live so close to the start of the rounds, the bin men sometimes start before the proper time of 7am, so I have to leave those bins on the street overnight, to avoid them getting missed. I dislike doing this, as the bins are left open to vandalism, arson and getting blown over.
Perhaps a sensible way forward would be for the council to give an amnesty, whereby if a householder misses a collection, they can call for a free next day collection, up to twice in any 12 month period. Then instead of needing 25 extra collections a year, they would only require a maximum of 2.”
by gordonio
Friday, June 15 2012, 10:51AM
“Eh?
Here's a free gift from me ,,,,, ..... use them wisely.”
by gillian01
Friday, June 15 2012, 10:32AM
“yes if you dont have a family at home they need bigger bins if every 2 weekly collection is to contuine it does not matter to us if our bin gets too full its taken to tip in car just up road but people with young families should be doing there bit to recycle papers /tins glass ect it keeps the bins down a bit”