Council votes to retain weekly black bag collections

Last updated: 25/05/2011 Add to My Bookmarks Subscribe

Cornwall Council’s Cabinet has voted by seven votes to three to retain weekly black bag rubbish collections after considering a range of options for changing recycling and rubbish collections in Cornwall.

Cabinet Members also considered the results of the Council’s recent waste canvass which received comments from just under 10,000 people.  66% of people supported the continuation of the weekly black bag collection with fortnightly recycling, with 34% opting for a change to separate weekly food waste and recycling collection, with a fortnightly collection for any remaining black bag waste.

Council Leader Alec Robertson , who gave instructions for the canvass to be carried out, thanked everyone who had taken part.  Adding that the results sent a very clear message to the Council, he said it was vital that Members listened to the views of local residents. .

“This is Council taxpayers’ money and they have the right to tell us how they want it to be spent” he said.  “Cornwall has voted two to one in favour of keeping the weekly black bag collections and Cornwall Council has responded properly to this message”.  

Julian German, the Council’s Cabinet member for waste management, had supported making the change, which, he said, in other parts of the country had resulted in a significant increase in recycling rates.

“Fortnightly [residual waste] collections have proved very successful in many areas, including West Devon and rural areas such as the Cotswolds where recycling rates have increased to more than 60%” he said.  “This option, which would have enabled us to continue to collect food waste weekly, would have encouraged more people to recycle and helped us to achieve our recycling targets.

“I am committed to ensuring Cornwall becomes an exemplar authority for green issues and, although disappointed by this decision, will continue to work with Council officers, our partners and people in Cornwall to help achieve this”.

While some Members at today’s meeting of the Cabinet supported moving to fortnightly residual waste collections, others expressed concerns over the possibility of increased litter in the streets, the potential impact to Cornwall’s vital tourism industry and the problems the change could cause for people who had no outdoor space to store their rubbish.

There are currently a range of different waste contracts operating across the six former District council areas and today’s decision by the Cabinet means that a new single system with weekly black bag collections and fortnightly recycling collections will be introduced across the whole of Cornwall in April 2012.

The Council will also be investigating the costs of providing a separate food waste collection service and the possibility of collecting mixed plastics and ‘tetrapak’ cartons as part of the recycling collections.

The Council is currently writing an Invitation to Tender document specifying the details of new waste and recycling service which will be put out to tender within the next month.

Story posted 18 May 2011