Smaller bins plan a load of rubbish

The controversy comes after Nottinghamshire County Council announced the move as part of plans to save £30m in a bid to cut £77m from its spend by 2017-18.

Finance chiefs at the authority have been forced to find cuts in an effort to balance the books due to ongoing reductions in Government funding and demand for services.

Council leaders hope smaller bins will save on disposal costs and improve recycling and composting performance for waste that cannot be or is not separated for recycling or composting.

It includes a wide range of the materials, such as textiles and ceramics or household food waste, which the council cannot collect for recycling.

Below is a small sample from the 57 comments posted on the Chad Facebook page by irate readers:

l Gemma Gratton: “It’s going to cost them more to make smaller bins and dispose of the old ones. There will still be the same amount of rubbish.”

l Emma Pay said: “They can have smaller payment for council tax then. They will lose more by cleaning up fly-tipping sites and actually paying for the smaller bins.

“Also, what are they going to do with the old ones?”

l Charlotte Grace Billson said: “What about the elderly or disabled or people who do not drive?

“They can’t easily get to a rubbish tip or recycling centre. Also, families with young children generate lots of waste with nappies, and tips won’t take them.

“It will lead to more fly-tipping as people won’t or can’t travel to a tip every week, which will not only look awful but will put wild animals at risk, increase the number of foxes, and ultimately the council will have to pay even more than they would on dustbin men to come and remove the fly tipping rubbish.

“We sort all of our rubbish out with recycling but still end up filling our bin before the end of each fortnight.”

A spokesman for Nottinghamshire County Council said the scheme was likely to be trialled in just one district first to prove the concept before it is rolled out more widely.

Coun Reg Adair, Conservative spokesman for Finance and Property said: “Labour propose to reduce the size of household waste bins, but will spend nearly a million pounds extra for each district buying smaller ones, a spend of £7m, which I am sure will anger and baffle families.”

Commenting on the other cash-saving proposals, Coun Adair said: “At first glance it looks certain that Labour once again will be increasing council tax, probably by nearly 2 per cent.

“Labour are showing sheer hypocrisy, closing down the remaining six County Council care homes and making 224 staff redundant, compared with our policy of transferring six homes and their staff to private providers.

“Our approach meant staff kept their jobs and residents kept their homes.”

“Rather than work with local private companies to deliver our highways services, Labour prefer to establish a public sector company with the CORMAC Group in Cornwall, a county which could not be more different or further from Nottinghamshire if it tried.

“What an insult to local private contractors who could – and have – done good work for us previously.”

Coun Jim Creamer, Chairman of the Environment and Sustainability Committee at Nottinghamshire County Council, said: “Disposing of waste which is not currently recycled costs Nottinghamshire residents over £20m per year, but a reduction of just 10 per cent in the amount sent to landfill would save an estimated £1.5m annually, the majority of which - £1.2m - is landfill tax paid to the Government.

“That is enough to cover the cost of providing care and support to 63 adults with learning disabilities in Nottinghamshire.

“One of the county’s main landfill sites, Dorkett Head, recently closed and over 200 new homes are being built in every district every year – which is adding more strain on already stretched resources.”

Coun Creamer said consistent budget cuts had left the government with no option but to find new ways of delivering services at a reduced cost in order to protect services to the most vulnerable.

He added: “In common with some other local authorities, we are exploring an option of reducing the size of the general waste bin.

“Some councils are perusing a policy of general waste collections being reduced to every three weeks. However we achieve it, we cannot keep needlessly burying our rubbish in the ground.”

“We are keen to have an open, honest debate with our communities about how we can save money on waste disposal, and to hear from local people about their own ideas on promoting recycling and cutting waste.”

To read more about the budget proposals CLICK HERE