Questions on implementation of the new scheme
Why weren’t the new recycling and waste services phased in, perhaps by town or by round?
A phased roll out would have been more expensive for Torbay Council and therefore the Council Tax payer. More significantly costs to Torbay Council for increased landfill tax and penalties under LATS are close to being realised and therefore only a ‘big bang’ approach prevents this burden. Where we have undertaken phased roll-out it has taken must long to achieve the impressive recycling figures being achieved in Torbay.
Why does Torbay need the kerbside recycling and waste service, why did you choose the kerbside scheme?
Torbay Council, like all local authorities in the UK has to increase the amount of waste that is recycled and reduce the amount that is sent to landfill sites. If we do not do this then Torbay Council and its council tax payers face landfill taxes and fines of up to £14 million, rising to £27 million by 2020.
The kerbside recycling and waste scheme has been designed to increase recycling rates from 35% currently to 50% by 2012 and will save Torbay Council and council tax payers £1million a year in operational costs in addition to the £14 million in landfill taxes and fines we would pay if we had retained the previous waste collection system.
TOR2 looked at all the options for collecting recyclable and residual waste and the system adopted is the most suitable for the needs of Torbay.
Will the new service enable me to recycle more waste products?
Yes. The new recycling and waste service will allow Torbay residents to recycle food waste, plastic bottles, paper, textiles, clothes, foil, tin cans and glass, which accounts to a large proportion of the waste produced by the average household.
Residents have three main recycling bins: one for paper, plastic bottles, cans, aerosols and mixed textiles and clothing; one for foil, glass and cardboard and a lockable food bin. All these recycling bins will be collected once a week.
In addition residents receive a green wheelie bin or in some cases black plastic sacks for all residual waste which can’t be recycled and this will be collected once a fortnight.
Aren’t we just doing the Council’s work for them by sorting the recyclable materials?
We are asking residents to help us by sorting their waste into recyclable and non-recyclable material and our waste crews will then segregate this when they collect the material.
We appreciate this is a bit more work for residents but if we do not do this then Torbay Council faces up to £14 million in extra landfill taxes and fines which will come directly from council tax revenues.
The new recycling and waste service will prevent this cost and protect front line services. By getting residents to separate waste, the resulting recyclable material is worth more, which offsets the cost of providing the service, making it less expensive for Torbay Council and council tax payers.
Our experience from running similar schemes is that residents very quickly get comfortable with the service. In Bridgend residual waste going into landfill has fallen by nearly 60 per cent 10 weeks after the service started.
