Fortnightly rubbish collection ‘on cards’ in Colchester

9:00pm Tuesday 19th June 2012 in News By Ryan Jennings

Val Best is not convinced by the trial Val Best is not convinced by the trial

RESIDENTS should be braced for fortnightly waste collections becoming the norm if food waste trials continue to be so successful.

Colchester Council has begun trialling the fortnightly collection of black bin bags in 7,100 homes, which are already part of the borough’s food waste pilot.

The move follows more than 80 per cent of residents in Tiptree, Mile End, Greenstead, Fingringhoe, Abberton and Stanway taking up the trial, which began in November.

So far 190 tonnes of food waste has been recycled.

Martin Hunt, councillor responsible for waste, said fortnightly collections for waste in black sacks could be rolled out across the borough.

He added: “There is a case for moving to fortnightly collections because, if you are recycling everything which can be recycled, then there should be very little left to put in black sacks.

“What are people putting in their black sacks if they are recycling?

“At the end of the day, though, until the end of the trial, it is hard to say.”

Mr Hunt said the money saved from moving to fortnightly collections is roughly the same amount which is spent on providing homes with food caddies and collecting them.

But residents fear the move could lead to a health and safety hazard, saying two-week old waste is likely to attract vermin and also leave streets looking a mess.

One of the residents concerned about the scheme is Val Best, 69, of Ivor Brown Court, High Woods, Colchester, who said: “It seems like a move towards less service for the same amount of money.

“The idea seems great for people who actually do recycle, but some people do and some people don’t.

“There will be so many people whose rubbish will just mount up. How are we meant to cope if that happens?”

Comments(23)

crazy comments says...
9:24pm Tue 19 Jun 12

Get the rubbish that mounts up then dump it on Martin Hunts front door. Problem solved.

Report this post »

The old see dog says...
9:50pm Tue 19 Jun 12

This will just not work. Every one that is in the catchment area has had a letter explaining how it is suppose to work and already people are putting out their black sacks. They will stand and rot for a week get ripped open by vermin and spread around so will not be collected next week. They have only been out a few hours and are leaking their contents across the paths. After next weeks collection they will be able to stand and rot for a fortnight, I hope we have a heat wave. But hey, they say people will recycle more so there will be less to collect every fortnight. Ha Ha Ha thats better than going to see Freddy Star in October why pay to See people crack funnies when you can get it for free on your council tax bill

Report this post »

PROOFREADER says...
11:12pm Tue 19 Jun 12

How many people these days can afford to throw food away. I can't, I eat all the food I buy, there is no waste.

Report this post »

Boris says...
12:02am Wed 20 Jun 12

PROOFREADER wrote:
How many people these days can afford to throw food away. I can't, I eat all the food I buy, there is no waste.
Snap.

Report this post »

suzyn says...
7:32am Wed 20 Jun 12

What are people throwing away?
All the items that used to be recycled.
Ice-cream tubs, margarine containers yoghurt pots, plastic packaging, plastic bags, aerosol cans etc, etc.
The refuge put out in a black sack has INCREASED.
We never did throw any food away,
what we don't eat goes in the dog, what the dog doesn't eat goes on the bird table.
What food waste?
If people do have food to waste, they're buying too much.

Report this post »

ShallowRemarks says...
7:43am Wed 20 Jun 12

It doesn't look like Val Best has wasted much food.

Report this post »

suzyn says...
8:34am Wed 20 Jun 12

And I notice the council don't mention the compost bin con.
They thought to themselves 'lets sell compost bins to the public'. To decrease waste going to landfill.
Lets educate the public what else can go in with grass clippings, leaves & spent flower pots.
Tea bags, egg shells, husks, vegetable/fruit peelings/skins & other biodegradable waste.....
Now here we are a few short years later & the council want it!
Ours is going in the compost bin, just like it's done since we brought said bin from the council.
But I suppose being vegetarians means we naturally have less food to throw away.
That's the answer for people to produce less waste. A vegetarian diet.

Report this post »

Smouldering Ewok says...
12:53pm Wed 20 Jun 12

Good news for foxes and vermin indeed.
What a shambolic idea.

Report this post »

Reginald47 says...
4:50pm Wed 20 Jun 12

Surely if food waste is being recycled there won't be any in the black sack so it's bad news for foxes and vermin! So stop Smouldering and put yourself out.

Report this post »

local yokel says...
5:12pm Wed 20 Jun 12

Fortnightly collections sound to me like a backhanded plan by CBC. Waste will get spread about the streets by vermin and then they have created a reason to get wheelie bins across the whole borough.

Report this post »

romantic says...
5:18pm Wed 20 Jun 12

As others have said, the trick is to reduce food waste. I´m in a household of 5 and we have got it down to less than one black bag per week. It has taken a while for the kids to get it, but now they keep their waste separated so it can be recycled as much as possible. We plan the food to buy each week and stick to it, so there is minimum left in the fridge. Any bits left go into stews or soups, peelings get composted.

People buy stuff that ends up going into the bin unopened, which is just criminal when much of the world struggles to feed itself.

The trouble is that a few people just will not get it. Of course, if you leave a sackful of waste with food in it on the street for days, it will be attacked by vermin. If no food waste goes in there, and the bags are kept in a metal bin until the day of collection, that is not going to happen so much.

The question is, how do you persuade people to recycle more? I don´t have a one-line answer to that. Don´t really think fining people will help, because the real major offenders will just chuck their rubbish out down the street, while the usual council jobsworths merrily fine old ladies for having a teabag in their black sack.

Pay people to recycle? Could it work? How would it be monitored? No idea, but it´s a thought, using the carrot rather than the stick.

Report this post »

RetiredVal says...
5:24pm Wed 20 Jun 12

Bring back Blue Peter. If it was reuseable they found a way for kids to make models or toys out of it !

Report this post »

RetiredVal says...
5:31pm Wed 20 Jun 12

Personally what tiny bits of food waste I have are composted.
And 'shallowremarks' you crouch down, leaning forward, in loose clothes as requested by a photographer and see how underfed you might look.

Report this post »

James 1 says...
8:48pm Wed 20 Jun 12

Cllr Hunt seems to have forgotten that he finished up with egg on his face over the sub standard black bags from last year. He is obviously determined to do the same again this year. As to the food recycling, I wonder how many residents are aware that bags have to be bought after the initial issue are used up.
No Cllr Hunt have a serious rethink on these projections of yours. You must agree that the general reception of them is not good.

Report this post »

Catchedicam says...
10:58am Thu 21 Jun 12

sensible move, my black bag only goes out once a month now, everything else is recycled, my problem is storing the bags or recycling, always untidy in the garden.

Report this post »

Smouldering Ewok says...
6:57pm Thu 21 Jun 12

Reginald47 wrote:
Surely if food waste is being recycled there won't be any in the black sack so it's bad news for foxes and vermin! So stop Smouldering and put yourself out.
Seeing as there have been thousands of flats built in and around Colchester, not everyone is recycling.
There are also not enough adequate measures in place to deal with such properties.
Bin bags in these circumstances are being stored on balconies as there is insufficient storage facilities in most cases.
So, it will be evident that, in quite a few cases there will be undiscarded food stuffs; wether it be unused food or leftovers.
I recycle everything and am lucky enough to have a garden to store waste and compost.
I stick by my comment and throw your petty comment straight into the trash bin.

Report this post »

jut1972 says...
7:04pm Thu 21 Jun 12

I live in Mile end and have had no comms on the food trial.
Sometimes my bins aren't collected, in this scenario they could sit there for a month.
I'm happy to recycle anything as long as its not too much hassle but not at the expense of weekly collections. If this isn't saving CBC money but is increasing the mess on the streets it shouldnt go ahead.

Report this post »

Reginald47 says...
10:48pm Thu 21 Jun 12

According to the Gazette it isn't saving CBC money, but leaving out black sacks costs you all money. Last year between you you had to pay nearly £2m on your Council Tax for ECC to pay the Landfill Tax to the Government - and that's just in Colchester. So try recycling, try having a less filled black sack, and save yourself some money.

Report this post »

ShallowRemarks says...
8:25am Fri 22 Jun 12

RetiredVal wrote:
Personally what tiny bits of food waste I have are composted.
And 'shallowremarks' you crouch down, leaning forward, in loose clothes as requested by a photographer and see how underfed you might look.
Oh dear I hit a nerve on that one.

Report this post »

Monkiimagic says...
11:06am Fri 22 Jun 12

We have been part of the separate food collection trial and it works fine, all people have to do is not put food into the black bags... it's really not that hard.

We usually end up with 1 black bag a week as the rest is in food waste and recycling... easy.

Report this post »

BigLouis says...
4:51pm Fri 22 Jun 12

I have nowhere to store all this different recycling without doing more. My kitchen, garage, garden looks like Shrub end tip. Can I claim back storage costs from CBC?

Report this post »

stackerman says...
5:54pm Fri 22 Jun 12

BigLouis wrote:
I have nowhere to store all this different recycling without doing more. My kitchen, garage, garden looks like Shrub end tip. Can I claim back storage costs from CBC?
What is all the moaning about people seriously this is pathetic.I lived in Germany within the armed forces, where me and my wife had to contend with not 1 but 4 recycle wheelie bins .A brown one for food waste etc , a blue for paper a yellow for plastic and a black for if you didn't know if it was a recycled item.Then oh yes Glass and metal so seriously why all the moaning it is a really good idea and works once you have fully adapted to how it works .If you went to the rubbish tip with black bags you was charged for each one so seriously what is the issue if you recycle and flatten your cardboard plastic and cans then it will free up more space so stop whining this is getting boring to read .the answer is get bigger bins to hold more instead of struggling :)

Report this post »

BigLouis says...
8:57am Sun 24 Jun 12

stackerman wrote:
BigLouis wrote:
I have nowhere to store all this different recycling without doing more. My kitchen, garage, garden looks like Shrub end tip. Can I claim back storage costs from CBC?
What is all the moaning about people seriously this is pathetic.I lived in Germany within the armed forces, where me and my wife had to contend with not 1 but 4 recycle wheelie bins .A brown one for food waste etc , a blue for paper a yellow for plastic and a black for if you didn't know if it was a recycled item.Then oh yes Glass and metal so seriously why all the moaning it is a really good idea and works once you have fully adapted to how it works .If you went to the rubbish tip with black bags you was charged for each one so seriously what is the issue if you recycle and flatten your cardboard plastic and cans then it will free up more space so stop whining this is getting boring to read .the answer is get bigger bins to hold more instead of struggling :)
Not moaning, just stating a fact. I don't want bigger bins etc! I'd happily pay extra not to recycle.

Report this post »

click2find

About cookies

We want you to enjoy your visit to our website. That's why we use cookies to enhance your experience. By staying on our website you agree to our use of cookies. Find out more about the cookies we use.

I agree