On a recent family litter pick in our village, we noticed a waste bin outside one of the local shops that was overflowing with rubbish, mostly recyclable items like cans and plastic bottles.
It led to a brief conversation about how frustrating it is that away from home so much of our waste is not separated, with even those who actively want to recycle not given the opportunity to.
On the rare occasion that we buy, say, a drinks can when out and about (we always take refillable bottles with us), we will always take it home again to place in our recycling sack rather than simply putting it in the ‘bin’. But not everyone will be prepared, or think, to do that so we need to make it easy.
I was intrigued therefore to stumble upon an article in Wokingham.Today later in the week, titled ‘Tories Reject Plans for Recycling Bins Across Wokingham Borough’.
At the recent Council meeting, Cllr Shirley Boyt (Bulmershe and Whitegates) said: “When I’m out and about in the Borough, I see overflowing litter bins which, on closer inspection, are almost always (full of) drink cans and plastic bottles.”
Seconding the motion, Cllr Rachel Burgess (Lab, Norreys), said that many residents would have expected the Council to have already addressed the issue, and added: “If we want more recycling, we need to make it easier for residents, this is an obvious example of how we can do that.”
Keen to find out more, I spoke with Cllr Gregor Murray (Con, Norreys), the executive member for emissions.
Setting the scene Cllr Murray said: “We aspire to reach 70% of our waste recycled. To achieve this there is a number of actions we can take, each of which will come at a different cost and will deliver a different level of increase to our recycling rate. As our rate increases we start to see a diminished return for the cost we have to spend. We are currently working through all of these options and will deliver them to residents in the coming months via our new Waste Strategy.”
Discussing the motion brought by Labour councillors, he said: “The challenges to this motion were that it was uncosted and unbudgeted; 2) there was no time frame applied to it; 3) it is not entirely in our control to deliver; and 4) compared to the cost, it would not deliver a big enough increase to our recycling rate at this time and there are other things that could deliver a much bigger impact.”
Cllr Murray continued: “As these are outdoor bins they have to be robust, long lasting, meet specific health and safety standards, be fire resistant and be microbial resistant. As a result, WBC would need to buy bins costing circa £1,000 each. In a community the size of ours we would require well over 1,000 of these bins, meaning that councillors would be voting to commit the Borough to in excess of £1million in spend, and potentially significantly more, without knowing exactly how much.
“As a fiscally responsible Council I simply couldn’t vote to do that. There is a second cost, which is the ongoing cost of collection. The rubbish from these bins is not always collected by Violia, as per your household waste.”
It is also worth noting that town and parish councils assume responsibility for such matters in their respective areas so some may choose to prioritise the issue.
So, “what next?” I hear you ask?
“Waste and recycling is high up the agenda and the new Waste Strategy will launch in the coming months,” explained Cllr Murray. “This will lay out the roadmap to 1) reducing the total waste that we generate as a community; 2) increasing our recycling rate to the maximum practically achievable; and 3) sending zero waste to landfill.
“We have a limited budget and have to make the biggest impact for our investment.”
Giving the introduction of new recycling sacks as an example, he said: “Based on the headline stats that I have seen, the the impact the recycling sacks have had on reducing our wet recycling has been significant, which is great news.”
Last year, Wokingham Borough achieved the second highest increase in its recycling rate in England, boosting it to 50.3%, with the food waste scheme credited with playing a key role. Nationally England’s rate is 45.5%.
Progress then, with a hopefully clear and ambitious strategy imminent. But there remains a long way to go to hit the Council’s target of a 70% recycling rate by 2030.
Watch this space.
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