Recycling incentives not 'binned' after all...

When I picked up my Bourne Local newspaper last Friday, I was surprised to see they splashed on 'news' that the Government had binned plans to allow local councils to charge residents to 'pay to throw'.

As I reported at the time, the Government responded to the rumour mill by making it clear that 'pay to throw' was in fact still being actively considered - but no mention of this in the Local's story which seems rather curious.

Now, three days on, Environment Minister Hilary Benn has announced that the draft Climate Change Bill will indeed give power to local councils to provide financial incentives for recycling.

Under the proposals, the financial incentives will be revenue-neutral and are expected to help save between two million and six million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent through landfill emissions in 2020.

Last week South Kesteven District Council told the Local they had no plans to introduce charges.

Now it has been confirmed that 'pay to throw' is in the draft legislation - which could become law by next Spring - the Conservative Party nationally has slammed the idea.

I wonder whether Conservative controlled SKDC will become one of the first councils in the country to adopt it - assuming of course that the proposals announced today survive scrutiny by Parliament and become law.

Watch this space...

Weighing up the recycling options...

A recycling rebel and regular commenter to this blog is celebrating this weekend following reports that the Government has dropped 'pay to throw' proposals.

Brynley Heaven removed the chips implanted in the twin bins rolled out earlier this year and posted them back to SKDC, so they couldn't measure the amount of rubbish.

Earlier reports suggested that the Government was about to give local councils the power to charge residents for the amount of rubbish dumped in their bin.

But now it has been claimed that Gordon Brown has scuppered the plan - though the Government says the idea is still being considered.

In any case, the story provided the Bourne Local with a front-page splash yesterday.

Watch this space...!

Weighing up what's in your wheelie-bin...?

Now that 110,000 micro-chipped wheelie bins have been rolled out across South Kesteven, Grantham-based SKDC are starting to focus on the data revealed in those controversial chips.

According to this morning's Stamford Mercury,SKDC will shortly start using the information collected from the chips to support residents who are not taking full advantage of the system provided.

No quote in the Mercury from bin-rebel Brynley Heaven who removed SKDC's chip from his bin, complaining that it was part of a secret agenda to make people pay according to the weight of rubbish in their bin...

One small step forward on green waste and wood...

At last, a small step forward on my campaign to replace the popular 'bring to vehicle' service in The Deepings which was withdrawn over 15 months ago.

I understand the authorities have finally agreed to pay recycling credits on domestic green waste and wood to the privately-run Deepings Recycling Centre

It means operator Ian Prentice no longer has to charge house-holders to get rid of their garden waste and wood (that's proper wood, not MDF or other composites etc!)

Still no news on whether we will get a general waste skip located at Deepings Recycling Centre on a weekend to replace the once a fortnight 'bring to vehicle' service.

The much-used facility operated at the Rainbow supermarket car park until December 2006 when out local South Kesteven district councillor Ray Auger refused to accept a cash grant from Lincolnshire County Council to continue the service.

I pushed for an answer at the last full County Council meeting and was promised by Waste Portfolio Holder Lewis Strange that there would be a solution by the end of May.

Three days to go then...watch this space!

Bryn the Bin rubbishes 'pay to throw' idea...

Good to hear Brynley on BBC Five Live this morning robustly putting the case against the idea of 'pay to throw' your rubbish. The idea that local councils should charge individuals according to the amount of waste in their bins is being promoted by a so called 'think-tank' (or should that be think-bin?).

Brynley regularly contributes to this blog and 'hit the headlines' when he removed the electronic 'chip' in his new wheelie bin and sent it back to South Kesteven District Council.

This morning on 5Live, he dismissed the idea of 'pay to throw' as unworkable, suggesting that well-heeled people who eat out would pay less than a less well-off mother with several children who disposed of nappies in the rubbish.

Brynley was very persuasive, but I'm sure we haven't heard the last of 'pay to throw'.

Photo of Brynley and his bins from the Grantham Journal.

When sorry's the only word...

Well done to the Head of Waste Services at Lincolnshire County Council who was big enough to say 'sorry' after a bit of a cock-up over recycling of newspapers in Spalding.

Gordon Oglesbee complained to the Spalding Guardian that he had taken a pile of old newspapers "several inches thick" to the household waste recycling centre, but was told by an official to put them in the skip destined for landfill.

Martyn Hands publicly apologised, saying:

The household waste recycling centre is there to recycle all of the materials mentioned by the concerned member of the public, paper in particular.

The fact that he was unable to do so is a serious service failure and the complaint is legitimate. We apologise accordingly.

The situation has arisen because of problems with a transport contractor which have resulted in many containers not being emptied in a timely manner.

However, appropriate action is immediately being taken to address this.

Of course, Mr Oglesbee was quite right to complain. It sounds like more of a glitch that shouldn't have happened rather than a "serious service failure", but it was nonetheless refreshing to see that Mr Hands has apologised on behalf of the county council.

Now, I hope he gets his finger out and sorts the recycling debacle in The Deepings that I've posted on ad-nauseum!

Shocking record of council which says 'do as we tell you, not as we do' on recycling...

Thousands of pounds of our money is spent by our local council urging us to step-up recycling. But guess how much waste produced in South Kesteven Council’s own offices is recycled...?

Here's a clue: Last year, the council's offices at Grantham, Bourne, Stamford and Market Deeping generated 390 tons of waste - most of it paper.

The shock answer is that not a single ounce was recycled: not even one solitary sheet of paper.

That's the dismal record of failure from a council that constantly lectures its residents on, er, recycling.

The Grantham Journal reports that instead of practising what it preaches, all 390 tons last year went straight to landfill – transported there by contractors hired by SKDC.

It’s an absolute disgrace and a shocking example of the arrogance and blatant hypocrisy of SKDC which constantly wastes public money and treats the residents it's supposed to serve with outrageous contempt.

Ray Auger, the DSJ councillor responsible for recycling and waste management at SKDC in Grantham, should hang his head in shame.

It's another case of 'Do as we tell you, not as we do!' and it's simply not good enough.