News
Councils new rules on household waste.
December 2007
ASSEMBLY member Trish Law has slammed a leading councilor who she says has suggested that household rubbish should be collected fortnightly instead of weekly.
The idea that bins in Blaenau Gwent should be emptied every two weeks has been floated by councilor Hedley McCarthy, Executive Member for the Environment, in a letter to Assembly Minister Jane Davidson.
He also talks about charging for refuse collections.
However, Mr McCarthy claims Mrs Law has misinterpreted his letter.
Last month in Cardiff Bay, Jane Davidson, Minister for the Environment, announced new recycling targets for Wales's 22 local authorities and criticized five councils, including Blaenau Gwent, for failing to meet their 2006/07 targets of 25 per cent.
Across Wales 27.6 per cent of all household waste was recycled, and two councils – Ceredigion and Powys – hit the 2009/10 target of 40 per cent.
However, Blaenau Gwent recycled only 23.2 per cent of its rubbish in 2006/07 – the third worst record in Wales.
In his letter to the minister, Councillor McCarthy says Blaenau Gwent Council has now introduced weekly kerbside collections.
The letter reads: “Fortnightly refuse collection and associated charging is only realistic if other central policy instruments and funding structures are in place.
“Clearly, fortnightly refuse needs to be supported by weekly kerbside collection and, as already stated, we are providing this level of service.
“Could I therefore pose a question, for example why doesn’t the Welsh Assembly Government make it a statutory requirement to provide fortnightly refuse? hence removing the opportunity for local dissatisfaction, which will undoubtedly be played out in the local press!”
After reading the letter Mrs Law said she was appalled at the suggestion that domestic refuse collections should be cut by half.
“The suggestion that householders should then be charged for collections is preposterousus,” she said.
“Council tax bills in Blaenau Gwent are already the highest in Wales and the only thing many people see for their money is their rubbish being collected every week.”
The Independent AM said Councillor McCarthy had a cheek to suggest to the minister that the Assembly should direct local authorities to make fortnightly collections compulsory.
“It is obvious he knows that the notion of fortnightly collections will go down like a lead balloon in Blaenau Gwent and he wants blame to be directed to the Assembly,” she said.
“It's not as though the borough council has a particularly good record on recycling.
“On the contrary, it has one of the worst records in Wales.
“Also, I wonder if the unions have been consulted about this.”
Blaenau Gwent Independent councillor John Mason said he was horrified at the prospect of fortnightly collections.
“Fortnightly collections would lead to the build-up of rubbish to the detriment of people's health and well-being,” he said.
“To leave refuse lying about for up to a fortnight would also lead to the likelihood of attracting vermin.
“And my fear is that such infrequent collections would encourage even more fly-tipping than we have at present.
“I hope this suggestion of Hedley McCarthy ends up where it should end up – in the bin!”
The introduction of fortnightly collections in England led to a public uproar.
In Oxford Dr Frances Kennett was taken to court after she withheld a month's council tax because she said less frequent collections caused her house to become infested with rats.
Plastic bag recycling plan passed in Suffolk
December 2007
The Suffolk County Legislature Tuesday approved legislation that would require large supermarkets and retailers to collect and recycle plastic shopping bags or face fines.
The bill, passed by a vote of 17-1, aims to curb the proliferation of the ubiquitous carryout bags and to encourage consumers to switch to reusable sacks, said Wayne Horsley (D-Babylon), its sponsor.
"Our intention is to make the recycling of plastic bags easy," Horsley said. "Frankly, this is going a long way to making Long Island greener and cleaner."
UK bottle plant commissioned
December 2007
One of the largest bottle recycling plants in the UK has been commissioned by Intercontinental Recycling (Skelmersdale, Lancashire). The facility can accept a mix of PET and HDPE bottles from local authority collections and convert it to PET flake and HDPE pellet ready for subsequent reprocessing. The plant has a capacity of 30,000 t/y and will take commingled bottles from the Manchester and Merseyside areas. Managing director Ravi Chanri says: “We have developed a unique facility to sort and reprocess a variety of plastic bottles into high quality end-use products.”