LEAVES from the roadside and footpaths are not recycled as they are “contaminated” by pollution, says the council – leaving residents with a green bin, grey bin conundrum.

At a council meeting at Trafford Town Hall on March 29, Labour’s Cllr Steve Adshead asked if leaves collected from the Trafford highways and footpaths are classed as contaminated and therefore not recycled.

The environment agency ruled in 2012 that local authorities could not send street-collected leaves for composting due to the levels of chemicals from vehicle emissions.

Cllr Brian Shaw, deputy executive member for environment, said that although a 2015 council-led investigation in Surrey indicated that toxin levels in street-collected leaves are mostly within acceptable levels, Trafford would continue taking this “precautionary approach”.

He said that the environment agency needed to ensure that compost is “fit for purpose” and won’t harm human health or the environment.

Cllr Adshead, shadow executive member for environment, questioned what residents should do with the leaves and natural debris they sweep up from the streets.

The dilemma he posed was residents risked contamination if they put street leaves into the green bin with other garden waste, as this gets recycled, but they can’t put them into the grey bin either, as the One Trafford bin collectors won’t pick up non-permitted refuse.

Cllr Shaw did not have an answer for Cllr Adshead in the chambers.

But in a later reply, Cllr Shaw confirmed that grey bins that contain leaves and tree debris will not be emptied as it “will be impossible for the crews to determine whether the leaves came from the street or the garden”.

Cllr Adshead then followed up with the question: “Please can the executive member please let Council know the full cost of writing to all residents across the borough in relation to the green bin tax?”

Cllr Shaw was keen to point out that the garden waste charge was not a tax.

“Taxation – you don’t have a choice, you have to pay it,” he said. “This is a scheme where you opt in.”

The garden waste charge is set to generate £430,000 to help balance the budget.

Cllr Shaw said the cost of sending leaflets out with the council tax bill was £3,020.

He later confirmed that the 99,000 copies of the garden waste collection information packs due to be delivered to homes in April stands at £23,354.

He said, however, that these costs were taken into account in the business case for the savings.