Smaller bins suggested for new homes

Occupants of new-build properties in Newark and Sherwood could soon have smaller wheeled bins for household waste.

The district council’s leisure and environment committee is recommending that bin size for new properties be determined by the number of occupants.

The suggestion — still to be approved by full council — is that a home with two residents would be issued with a 140-litre bin; three to five residents a 240-litre bin; and six to eight, a 360-litre bin.

Currently most homes have a standard 240-litre wheelie bin for general non-recyclable waste.

This is emptied once a fortnight and that would not change.

There was a suggestion that all homes of two residents would be issued with a 140-litre bin when their 240-litre one needed to be replaced, but that idea was shelved.

The suggestions come as Newark and Sherwood looks to encourage residents to recycle more household waste. Other councils in Nottinghamshire have reduced their bin sizes to 180 litres.

The district leisure and environment committee debated possible changes as part of the council’s waste management strategy, which runs until 2020.

A report said a lot had changed since the plan was introduced, and the district was experiencing unprecedented growth.

Committee member Mr Johno Lee said there should be like-for-like replacements for household bins, unless a smaller one was requested.

He feared smaller bins could lead to more fly-tipping.

Mr Roger Blaney said it would be logistically easier if everyone had the same 240-litre bin, but suggested new-build homes should be issued with smaller bins and those who move in could argue the case for a larger one.

Mr Lee’s proposal of a like-for-like replacement, coupled with Mr Blaney’s suggestion that new homes receive bins according to their occupancies, was agreed on a majority decision and goes forward to full council.

The report to committee revealed that, of 351 English councils, in 2015-16, Newark and Sherwood ranked 312th for recycling/composting just over 30% of its waste.

The top-ten performing local authorities are all recycling/composting 59% of their waste.

The district council expects its ranking to slightly increase over the next few years, mainly due to the growth of its brown bin scheme for collecting garden waste.

'We need to try to persuade more people to put things in the right bin'

Figures show that 44,944.20 tonnes of household waste were collected in Newark and Sherwood from April, 2016, to March, 2017 — up by more than 1,000 tonnes on the year before.

Until 2013-14 there was a steady reduction in the amount of waste produced per head, but since April 2014, the figure has grown, although it is still far below the 440kg per head recorded in 2004-05.

In 2016-17 the council collected more than 1,127 tonnes of bulky waste, such as white goods. It charges householders £12 for the first item and £6 for a second.

This netted £61,825, but some councillors think charging has led to an increase in flytipping by those who won’t pay and there will be a review of charges.

Contamination of silver bins with items that cannot be recycled in Nottinghamshire is a growing problem.

The council has a Private Finance Initiative deal with the county council and waste contractor Veolia that runs until 2032.

Every load of waste sent to Veolia’s recycling centres under the contract should contain less than 5% of items that cannot be recycled.

However, it regularly exceeds 10%, meaning Veolia can refuse to accept loads.

In some instances, recycling bins have been temporarily removed from households that refuse to recycle and use their silver bins for household waste. People whose recycling bins are repeatedly contaminated can be fined.

Linda Tift, another member of the committee, said it would be useful to have the latest information on what could be accepted into the recycling bin.

The committee wants the county council and Veolia to attend a meeting to explain their strategy, along with what can be recycled.

Committee chairman Mr Roger Jackson said: “We need to try to persuade more people to put things in the right bin and we might find more capacity.”

Glass collection has been considered but is said to be non-viable as a kerbside collection because of the falling worth of glass as a recycling item so would not cover the costs involved.

Food waste, which would most likely go to anaerobic digesters to create methane, would require significant investment.

The alternative is to collect food waste with green waste, meaning methane could not be harvested, but this would involve having a district-wide green waste collection service that was free, resulting in a loss of income. (Currently householders optionally pay extra to have a bin for green waste).