Plans to ‘modernise’ waste collections in Plymouth will be discussed at the council’s Place and Corporate Overview Scrutiny Committee on Wednesday (5 October).
Plymouth aims for the city to recycle 50% of its waste by 2034
Among the proposals is a plan to introduce alternate weekly collections of residual waste and recyclables, which the council claims could increase recycling rates by up to 9%.
According to a report to be considered by councillors on Wednesday, most of the city’s 117,000 households have fortnightly mixed recycling collections and weekly refuse collections, but despite the introduction of household glass recycling two years ago, recycling rates in Plymouth have remained static at close to 35%.
The ambition set out in the Plymouth Plan is for the city to recycle 50% of its waste by 2034. The transformation of services is expected to generate savings of around £750,000.
Recycling
The report states that the council needs to maximise the benefits of the substantial investment it has already made in an energy from waste facility and a recycling facility at Chelson Meadow.
In early 2015, the council also improved the efficiency of its collections by reshaping collection routes (see letsrecycle.com story).
The report notes that many areas of the country have shown that it is possible to achieve high levels of recycling and 75% of councils have moved to alternate weekly collections.
Alternate collections
The report acknowledges alternate-weekly collections will require the “trust and cooperation of residents”, and the council will have to work with households to provide a flexible collection system.
As such, the Plan calls for “Strong communications and clear campaigns” as well as “consistent awareness and education for all sections of the community and front line staff.”
Like many other cities that have already moved to alternate weekly collections, Plymouth has a high student and transient population and significant areas of high density housing, flats and narrow streets, which can create issues with bin storage and collections.
The council would also need to accommodate the needs of individual households where there are special circumstances, for example where there are several children still using nappies, or occupants with health conditions that generate unavoidable waste.
Concerns
The report claims that common concerns about alternate weekly collections in other areas have often proved to be unfounded. It says there is often concern “about switching to less frequent collections of food waste, citing potential problems with odour, flies and the increased risk of vermin,” but adds that research shows there is “no risk to health or amenity provided that simple precautions are adopted like the double wrapping of large items of food waste, and ensuring that bin lids are kept closed.”
Instead, the report says alternate weekly collections have a record of increasing recycling rates.
Councillor Mike Leaves, cabinet member for Street Scene and Environment, said: “I’m sure just about everyone agrees that we want Plymouth to be a clean and green city and that need to up our game on recycling. This means we have to modernise and changing the way we do things. Many people don’t like change but if we do this we will make sure we do it properly.
“We now need to work up the details about how measures such as alternate weekly collections might work. We need to learn from the best out there as most other councils have already done this. We’ll be listening to people throughout and ensuring we do what is best for Plymouth.”
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Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment
