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Waste from a ripped blue bag scattered outside a home in Crowthorne
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No blue bin bags, no rubbish collection

By Laura Herbert
May 23, 2012

People in Wokingham not using blue bin bags under the borough’s new waste scheme will no longer have their rubbish collected.

In the next few weeks, Wokingham Borough Council will begin policing the scheme and households failing to use the bags will be left off rounds.

The launch of the scheme six weeks ago was plagued by a number of incorrectly sized bags being issued to residents but the council will now begin to crack down on homes failing to use the bags.

Pete Baveystock, chief officer for waste and recycling, said: “The changes have bedded in now. We will be working with residents to create a ‘light touch’ to get them all using the blue bags.

“We are not looking at penalties, we are looking at working with residents as there is no reason why they shouldn’t be using the blue bags. It’s an educational process.”

Issues about the strength of the bags continue to be raised, with many people claiming they are too weak and, as they must be left out by 6.30am for collection, animals are easily ripping into bags.

Mr Baveystock said: “If animals are getting to the bag and you have to put it out overnight, put it in a dustbin. The bags are 25 micron*, above what you would get in the supermarket.”

Since Veolia Environmental Services took over the tender of the service, recycling in the borough has increased by 30 per cent and household waste reduced by 25 per cent.

Councillor Gary Cowan, outgoing executive member for environment, said: “This is down to our residents’ efforts and we hope to be able to sustain this good work throughout the year.

“The new scheme will allow us to achieve even more and save nearly a million pounds every year which can be pumped back into vital front line services.

“We know things didn’t go as smoothly as we hoped in April, and there are still a number of residents who have outstanding issues with us, but we are working hard to address these as quickly as we can. I’d like to thank you for your patience.”

Cllr Cowan added: “We appreciate the new waste scheme has been a big change for our residents but it was a change we had to make as landfill taxes of £64 per tonne are increasing at £8 per tonne year on year.

“We’ve been set targets to reduce landfill by a third before 2020, and if we don’t achieve this, we face significant penalties of £150 per tonne that would take vital money away from front line services.

“We are extremely pleased with the results for April but know we still have a long way to go to deliver on all of our targets.”

Jack Lavington, municipal south regional director at Veolia Environmental Services, added: “Seeing a 30 per cent rise in recycling in such a short space of time is an outstanding result but we believe even further progress can be made and look forward to working with residents to make this possible.”

Almost 6,000 homes have opted to pay for a brown wheelie bin, which is significantly fewer than the council’s initial estimate of 20,000 bins, while 3,500 properties are using compostable sacks.

Some people have been unable to order brown bins because of problems with telephones but the council says it is working to resolve the issue with Veolia. Anyone wanting to join the scheme can call (0118) 909 9360 to place an order.

* The thickness of bags are measured in microns, which is short for micromillimetre. Bags with a higher micron have thicker polythene therefore the bag will be stronger.

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This doesn't work. Half of our bags have had to go back as they don't come apart and then they make holes and the foxes won't leave them alone. Also surely it costs more for the council to make these blue bags then to keep it normal?

JustThatGirl
29/05/2012 at 00:09

Trying to give them the benefit of the doubt, Tru Blue NoMore! Innocent until proven incompetent, and all that.

Damiano_Tommassi, Wokingham
25/05/2012 at 11:50

DT, for this adverse effect to take place, surely they would need to prove a thought process was in situ first ???

Tru Blue NoMore, WOKINGHAM
25/05/2012 at 09:50

Phil Challis, I read in the Wokingham Times (proper) yesterday that the remaining executive members have all had a reshuffle, so they're all switching roles... because, says Cllr Lee, 'it will give them all more experience in more areas'. Don't know how I feel about that... it's hard to be an expert in many things as opposed to one, isn't it? And does shuffling around not adversely affect continuity of thought and execution?

Damiano_Tommassi, Wokingham
25/05/2012 at 09:39

I see that Cllr Gary Cowan the Conservative member of the Executive responsible for waste has been sacked in the Tory Leader's post election Executive reshuffle. Glad to see some responsibility being taken by the Tories for the disastrous implementation of this controversial scheme.

IP Freely says that things need to improve significantly next year - well, we have quite a few weeks (months!) to go this year when we could do with some improvement! - whats going to happen next Jan/Feb/Mar when young families start to run out of bags?

Phil Challis, woodley
24/05/2012 at 17:45

Luckily I just got my blue bags this week!

MoJo
24/05/2012 at 13:32

These black recycling boxes do not last very long until they split. They seem to have little holes designed in right on the maximum stress point along the box so its inevitable people will need new boxes supplied. Oh and is what I heard correct that once the boxes are broken they themselves can not be classed as recycled plastic and won't be collected as recycling. That seems a tad ludicrous.

graywok, Woosehill
24/05/2012 at 12:37

IP – “thousands of extra recycling boxes ordered over the last three months” – is that true? How many more than normal have been ordered (because of course, black boxes go missing all the time)?

“What's the difference between suppling 80 bags a year or supplying a wheeled bin on a fornightly collection? If I lived in Reading or Maidenhead and I filled my wheeled bin and had extra waste, would I not have to pay to have it removed? I think the answer would be yes.” – I’m sorry, I don’t understand your point here; the immediately obvious differences are 1) foxes can’t rip a wheelie-bin apart and 2) the council wouldn’t monopolise the supply of its own preferred bags, which is an unnecessary cost and inconvenience both to them and the end user.

“My personal opinion is that if it was 'illeagal' then surely it would've been challenged by now?“ – absolutely agree. I’m surprised that no opposition party member has taken this to the courts, parliament or wherever is most appropriate. Or at least researched the matter fully and fed-back to us. Lot of party-political gain to be had there!

“I still think it will be interesting to see if any lessons have been learnt and what if anything will change for next April?” – yes indeed. I suspect nothing will change – I’ll have a fiver on it with you, if you like! – but time will tell.

Smiffy making perfect sense – “weekly recycling must be expensive and is unneccessary as all it means is that instead of putting two boxes out fortnightly, I now put out a box a week.” You can't argue with that logic.

Damiano_Tommassi, Wokingham
24/05/2012 at 11:37

I P Freely - you are right that IF more recycling boxes have been ordered then that theoretically means that there will be more recycling and it is great if that is the case. I suspect many people before didn't know the details of the previous scheme and the promotion of the new scheme prompted many people to get some boxes. I still wonder whether these people simply didn't recycle before or whether they just recycled it themselves. The reason I say if more recycling boxes have been ordered is because I have no confidence in the stats WBC provide and the most important stat is surely a regional one as there is no overall gain if WBC improves things simply because more people are using the tip instead.

I don't think WBC have implemented an illegal scheme - I just think it is poorly thought through and implemented. It is also solely focussed on saving money and any environmental or resident implications are secondary. I say that, but weekly recycling must be expensive and is unneccessary as all it means is that instead of putting two boxes out fortnightly, I now put out a box a week. I don't recycle any more, because I have always recycled all I can, so essentially it is costing the council more to collect my recycling and I now have to get rid of my own green waste. Pathetic is the only word that describes the new scheme.

Smiffy, Reading
24/05/2012 at 09:55

DT - What about the thousands of extra recycling boxes ordered over the last three months? If you were recycling as much as you could before the scheme you wouldn't need any extra boxes now recycling is weekly. Also the Houses near me are putting out black boxes where they didn't before. My neighbour has even started taking his wine bottles to the bottle bank.

What's the difference between suppling 80 bags a year or supplying a wheeled bin on a fornightly collection? If I lived in Reading or Maidenhead and I filled my wheeled bin and had extra waste, would I not have to pay to have it removed? I think the answer would be yes.

My personal opinion is that if it was 'illeagal' then surely it would've been challenged by now? The Lib Dems didn't question its legality as far as I am aware but I am happy to be corrected, Matthew Dent (Labour) has loosely called it "possibly illegal". I believe Matthew also wrote a letter to Grant Shapps MP(which I think is great BTW, trying to seek some clarity on the matter) only to receive a response from DEFRA - Grant Shapps MP obviously just passed it on, "Fobbed off". These responses to me suggest some would like it to be illegal but there is a likelihood it is not.

I still think it will be interesting to see if any lessons have been learnt and what if anything will change for next April?

I P Freely
24/05/2012 at 09:31

paperbird - it's a bit wasteful and anti-recycling to put rubbish into two bags, isn't it... surely the point of an 'improved recycling scheme' is not to use twice as much non-bio-degradable plastic bags?

Damiano_Tommassi, Wokingham
23/05/2012 at 17:44

@D.M. - I've already asked Bob Neill MP to investigate WBC on this. Doubt I'll get a response, as they all seem to be in it together.

I Live Here!, Right Here!
23/05/2012 at 17:22

Section 46 of the Environment Protection Act 1990

Section (3) In making requirements under subsection (1) above the authority may, as respects the provision of the receptacles— (a)determine that they be provided by the authority free of charge; (b)propose that they be provided, if the occupier agrees, by the authority on payment by him of such a single payment or such periodical payments as he agrees with the authority; (c)require the occupier to provide them if he does not enter into an agreement under paragraph (b) above within a specified period; or (d)require the occupier to provide them.

WBC say that they can charge under Section (3) (b) but that requires the occupier to agree, otherwise Section (3) (d) says you can supply your own...

Then who is going to risk taking WBC to court with their almost infinite resources vs. limited personal resources...

Know-Dice, Berkshire
23/05/2012 at 17:17

For goodness stop moaning everybody! With regard to the strength of the bags - what do you all line your kitchen bins with? For hygiene reasons I sincerely hope you use something! I have always used branded liners which fit my bin and they therefore give the blue bags an extra layer of protection when placed outside. To the person complaining about leaving bags out the night before when they are not collected until 2pm - do what our road does - leave them out in the morning!! How hard can it be??

paperbird
23/05/2012 at 16:51

@Mike Rhodes - "put it in a dustbin' - tried that twice now, both times and the bin men refused to lift the lid and take the bags out... "

That surprises me, I've been leaving my blue bag inside a black plastic dustbin with no problems. Heavy bags too, full of nappies, still they take them.