Public meetings to discuss recycling and waste collection proposals (From Messenger Newspapers)

Trafford Council holds public meetings to discuss recycling and waste collection proposals

4:20pm Monday 22nd October 2012 in News

RESIDENTS are being invited to a series of public meetings to discuss plans for the future of Trafford's kerbside recycling and waste collection service.

Council chiefs are proposing to only collect residents' grey general waste bins every two weeks, instead of weekly.

They would empty the green bins - for garden and food waste - on a weekly, instead of the current fortnightly, basis.

The move was condemned as a cost-cutting measure by Labour group leader David Acton.

But council bosses claim the proposals follow research which confirmed that Trafford residents are calling for more support to encourage green waste recycling.

The consultation exercise, carried out by BMG Research on behalf of Trafford Council, revealed that around 90 per cent of residents put both their blue and black recycling bins out for every collection, raising the borough's recycling rate to 50 per cent, one of the best in Greater Manchester.

However, more than 30 per cent of people do not put any food waste into their green bin, and the main reason was that it is not collected often enough.

The council says that by introducing the collection of green bins on a weekly basis, this will free up room in residents’ grey general waste bins so that they will only need to be collected every two weeks.

Executive councillor Jonathan Coupe said: "I am delighted that local people are still helping us achieve impressive recycling rates. However, we cannot rest on our laurels and there is still more than can be done to improve even further.

"I would encourage residents to come along to these public meetings to find out more about the proposals and give their views on the future of their kerbside collection service."

But Cllr Acton hit out: "I'm shocked that Trafford's ruling Conservatives are to scrap weekly grey bin collections. After so many protestations to the contrary, they make this proposal by way of a single line in their draft budget.

"Even with improvements to recycling rates, the grey bin still gets plenty of unpleasant stuff like cat litter and disposable nappies that the council doesn't recycle.

"People genuinely value their weekly collection service and will be deeply concerned at the potential effects.

"This proposal is part of the £34 million the council intends to cut in services over the next two years. It is anticipated that nearly £1.5 Million will be saved with this move to a fortnightly grey bin waste collection."

Details of the public meetings, which take place from 6pm-8pm are: Altrincham - November 7, Altrincham Town Hall; Sale - November 1, Ashton on Mersey Sixth Form Centre; Stretford - November 12, St Matthew’s Church; Urmston - November 13, Flixton House.