Changes to green bin waste collections
Posted on October 28 2011
The collection of green waste in North East Derbyshire is to be temporarily stopped during winter, following new guidelines which mean cardboard will no longer be collected in residents’ green bins.
North East Derbyshire District Council is now informing residents of the change, which will start from November when households’ garden waste is at its lowest.
The waste in the green bins is turned into composting, and new standards around the quality of the composted waste mean that card is not being collected with green waste in future.
It has therefore been decided to suspend green bin collections during the winter months when people are less active in the garden, and cardboard makes up the bulk of green bin collections.
In future, households are asked to recycle their cardboard by putting it in their burgundy recycling bin.
Cllr Nick Foster, Member with responsibility for the Environment, said: “During the winter months most of the waste in green bins is cardboard because people are less active in the garden.
“If people do have any green waste over the winter it would help us if they could either take it to their local waste recycling site or leave it in the green bin to be collected during the spring.
“We hope that this change won’t inconvenience people too much. It’s also a way for us to save some money at a time when our funding for all our services – including waste collection – is being reduced. So, we will be making savings that will help us to maintain a high standard of waste collections services throughout the year.”
Normal fortnightly collections of general household waste (via the black bins) and waste for recycling (via the burgundy bins) will continue as normal. The council will be distributing bin hangers to all households over the next few weeks explaining the changes.
Green bin collections will start again at the end of March 2012, in time for the gardening season.
Cllr Foster added that the council had listened to residents when preparing the 2011-2012 collection calendar. Where a household’s fortnightly burgundy bin collection falls on a Bank Holiday their bin will now be collected just a day later, whereas previously they would have had have to wait a month to have it emptied.
He added his thanks to North East Derbyshire residents for helping to dramatically increase the amount of waste being recycled via the new burgundy bin scheme.
“The response from our residents has been absolutely fantastic,” he said.
“In just a few months we’ve almost doubled the amount of waste that’s being diverted away from landfill sites.”
Green bin suspension – Q&A
Q. Why have the green bins been suspended this year?
A. The waste in the green bins is turned into compost, and new standards around the quality of the composted waste mean that card is not being collected with green waste in future.
It has therefore been decided to suspend green bin collections during the winter months when people are less active in the garden, and cardboard makes up the bulk of green bin collections.
Q. Why can’t you put cardboard in the green bin in future?
A. Inks, dyes and coatings on cardboard packaging e.g. cereal boxes, affect the quality of the composted material meaning it would not meet the new required standard.
Q. What do I do with my Christmas cardboard?
A. Cardboard should be flattened or ripped up and placed in the burgundy bin. If you have too much to fit in, additional cardboard may be presented at the side of the burgundy bin.
Q. What do I do with my green waste during the period of suspension?
A. Green bin collections are being suspended during the winter months when people are less active in the garden; any garden waste generated at this time can be stored in the green bin ready for collection at the end of March. If you have additional garden waste this can be disposed of at the Household Waste Recycling Centre (Stonegravels and Buttermilk Lane, Duckmanton)
Q. Isn’t this a step backwards for recycling – not having green waste emptied?
A. During the winter months the green bins predominantly contain cardboard, with minimal garden waste. Therefore collecting this small amount of green waste would be uneconomical and would not make sense from an environmental viewpoint.
Q. My waste keeps sticking in the green bin so I’ve been advised to line it with cardboard. What do I do now?
A. A sheet of newspaper or single piece of brown cardboard would still be acceptable in the bottom of the bin. Alternatively, put woody stemmed green waste material at the bottom of the bin and grass clippings on top.
Q. What will the refuse collectors be doing on green bin weeks now?
A. Employees who would usually have been carrying out the winter green collections will be working to enhance other council services e.g. thorough cleaning of rural grass verges.
Q. Does this mean we’ll have weekly black bin collections?
A. No, the amount of waste in the black bin should not increase for the majority of residents, so there is no need for a temporary return to a weekly collection. Residents now have the benefit of the burgundy bin for the vast majority of recyclable materials including the cardboard that had previously been collected in the green bin for composting.
The burgundy bin has seen a massive increase in recycling of household waste. Its success should see around 4,500 tonnes of waste diverted from landfill. It is with huge thanks to our residents that we have been able to achieve this and ensure we meet our European waste targets.
Q. Before we put ashes in green bins I was always getting my black bin rejected for being too heavy. What will happen now with all ashes for a fortnight going in the black bin?
A. The weight of our black bin collections have been reducing, because more material is now being put into the burgundy bin. Taking this into account, this means the weight of your black bin should still be acceptable, even with the additional ash included. You can keep the weight of the ash to a minimum if your store it in a dry place while it is cooling.
Q. The council cuts my hedges and uses my green bin for the waste. Is this going to be left in my bin until end of March?
A. No, arrangements are being put in place to remove the hedge cuttings around the same day as the hedges are cut.
Q. Will I get a refund on my Council Tax with only having one bin emptied every fortnight?
A. Your Council Tax is not a direct charge for services by North East Derbyshire District Council, so there will be no change to the amount you pay. There will be benefit to residents as resources usually employed collecting the green bins in winter will be used to enhance other frontline services.
Q. I have a lot of cardboard waste and split this between my green and burgundy bins. There is too much for the burgundy bin, so what do I do with it?
A. You can present any excess cardboard to the side of your burgundy bin on collection day and it will be taken with the other recyclables. If you are ripping up card, squashing plastic bottles etc and are still having trouble containing the recyclables in the burgundy bin, we may be able to provide a second recycling bin – please contact us for more details.
Q. Why can’t you do a monthly green bin collection in winter?
A. Now that cardboard is removed from the green bin only a limited number of residents would make use of this service during winter. Green waste collection crews’ time would be taken up collecting the few bins that would be presented and we feel they would be providing better value for money to residents by enhancing other frontline services.
Q. What are European Recycling Targets and how do they affect me?
A. The European Waste Framework Directive requires that 40% of household waste was recycled by 2010, 45% by 2015 and 50% by 2020; the waste in our green bins contributes 26% towards this.
If the UK fails to meet targets, the EU may impose fines which could be handed down to UK Councils and picked up by Council Tax payers. In North East Derbyshire we have put systems in place to meet our targets and with your assistance we believe this is achievable.
At ending March 2011 we achieved 42% recycling meeting our 2010 target; however, we need to increase this to meet the 2015 target. Increased recycling via the Burgundy Bin will greatly help us achieve this.