Tag Archives: recycling

District Council to consult on Refuse and Recycling proposals

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Following the meeting of Blaby District Council on Tuesday 19th September, the Council are now finalising the consultation which they hope will get as much resident response as possible.

The Council has not yet made a decision to make alterations to the manner in which refuse and recycling is collected. However, as reported, it is something that is currently being considered.

The District Council wishes to consult on, amongst other things, that the current weekly refuse and recycling service will change from its current configuration to one of an alternate weekly basis. This means that one week refuse will be collected and the alternate week the recycling will be collected

Going forward, the Council says it wants to ensure that residents receive a sustainable, quality refuse and recycling service.

In order to do this, the Council need residents to tell them both about their current situation and what might work best for them.

The new scheme proposals are designed to make necessary savings for the Council but also to encourage residents to recycle more.

The history…

In November 2012 Blaby District Council was successful in being awarded
£2M funding from the Department for Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to
carry out weekly refuse and recycling collections from June 2013 for a period
of 5 years.

This funding enabled the Council to purchase 5 new recycling
vehicles, additional recycling bins and allowed £235K per year to underpin the
revenue cost of weekly collections. The final £235K of revenue funding ends
in March 2017/18 financial year.

In September 2016 Leicestershire County Council (LCC) Cabinet agreed to
use their statutory powers of direction to procure capacity for all
Leicestershire Waste Collection Authorities and direct them to use it when
their current arrangements end.

Blaby District Council’s current arrangement for processing dry recycling is with Casepak and this ends on 31st May 2018.

Once LCC use their powers of direction, they no longer have to pay Dry Recycling Credits to each Waste Collection Authority. For Blaby District Council this means a loss in income of £505K per year. This coupled with the loss of the revenue funding from DEFRA means that the Council’s Refuse and Recycling Service will lose £740K of funding per year.

In addition the Council currently provides a number of ‘bring sites’ which are community recycling facilities to support the current recycling service. A feasibility study of these sites will be considered as part of this project to assess future need.

Larger bins

The District Council wishes to stress that current plans include giving residents the option to upgrade their bin from the standard 140ltr to 240ltr.

The proposal is that there will be increased capacity for recycling with the issue of larger recycling bins at no cost to residents should they require the extra capacity.

Look out for more information on the consultation to have your say.

When the consultation launches there will be a FAQ, online form and details of plans.

The Council say they are in the early stage of proposing the changes and residents input into that ‘redesign’ is very important to them.

Those affected can view the proposals discussed at Tuesday’s meeting by viewing the public document and reading from page 19.

[Source: Blaby District Council Communications and Council Agenda item 11 (19th September 2017)]

Parish Council urges residents to report fly-tippers following introduction of charges at Waste Recycling Sites

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133-fly-tippingEnderby Parish Council have heard how the decision by Leicestershire County Council to charge for disposal of some types of non-household waste at all its Recycling and Household Waste Sites may exacerbate the fly-tipping problem.

Addressing Parish Councillors during Enderby Parish Council’s May 11th meeting, Blaby District Councillor Guy Jackson said that the introduction of charges earlier this month for processing certain types of non-household waste may encourage unscrupulous individuals to illegally ‘fly-tip’ waste items within the Parish.

A list published on the County Council website examples the types of material that attract the new charges, as well as those that are exempt.

Enderby is not alone in suffering incidents of fly-tipping in recent times and apart from causing a blight on the environment the practice has implications for health and safety.

Fly-tipping also costs the community in financial terms since, on publicly owned land, District Councils have powers to tackle fly-tipping.

This includes the cost of clearing up and disposing of fly-tipped materials and where applicable, investigation and prosecution of offenders. These actions have to be paid for and so there is a call on local taxpayers to foot the bill.

In the course of a single year this could mean several thousands of pounds of local Council taxpayer’s money being used to combat fly-tipping.

The District Council are working with the Neighbourhood Police and Environmental Agency to identify and combat this anti-social practice.

Enderby Parish Council has undertaken to publicise the issue of fly-tipping through its various online social media outlets and its newsletter publication, ‘Enderby Connection’.

Local authorities in England dealt with over 700,00 incidents of fly tipping in 2012/13, costing taxpayers over £36 million to remove.

Flytipping is:

  • Illegal – and clearing it up costs taxpayers’ money
  • Unsightly – flytipping is a sign of a neglected neighbourhood and is associated with increased levels of crime and fear of crime.  It also discourages investment and new businesses from moving into the area.
  • Unsafe – dumped waste can consist of dangerous items such as syringes, asbestos and toxic waste.  It can also attract rats, flies and other disease carrying pests

It is an offence under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to flytip any material, it carries a fine upon conviction of up to £50,000 or one year imprisonment.

Fly-tipping is often associated with dumping waste from vehicles. In this case, the person controlling the use of the vehicle, normally the registered keeper, can also be prosecuted.

This means that it is possible for a prosecution to occur when only the vehicle, not the driver, is identifiable.

Report it!

Enderby Parish Council are encouraging residents to report incidents of fly-tipping where they encounter them …..take the registration number and if possible vehicle make. Stills or video footage is also useful in detection and securing conviction of offenders. It is, however, important not to place yourself in danger when attempting to photograph an alleged offence taking place.

Fly-tippers are doing something illegal, they don’t want to get caught.

  • Do not approach them.
  • Do not go near the rubbish until you are sure it is safe.
  • Do not touch anything.

If you spot someone fly-tipping, make a note of the following and contact the District Council with details of:-

  • the date, time and place where it happened
  • what the waste looks like and how much there is
  • a description of any vehicles involved and vehicle registration numbers if possible
  • a description of the person dumping the waste:  height, age, male/female

Enderby residents can report fly-tipping by using the online form or call Blaby District Council on 0116 272 7555.

Anyone asking a third party to dispose of waste on their behalf should ensure they are using a Registered Waste Carrier. There is a responsibility to check this and ask to view the third party’s certificate.

Always get a receipt confirming what they have taken and where they have disposed of it and details of any payment made (details of registered waste carriers can be found on the Environment Agency website.

Vigilance can help rid our neighbourhood of this anti-social activity.

 

 

Council depot on the move

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Blaby DC new depot - artists impressionBlaby District Council’s Neighbourhood Services will be making the short journey from Littlethorpe to Whetstone as the service relocates to a modern, 21st century depot.

The Council will be moving its service from the existing base to the new yard next to the County Council-run Whetstone Tip on Enderby Road.

Wates Construction began building the new Depot in January this year after planning permission had been approved in late 2015.

The completion date is anticipated to be sometime in late summer 2016.

The existing Depot has been located at Warwick Road, Littlethorpe for over 60 years and was in need of considerable re-investment to bring it up to current standards, along with the current depot lying within an existing residential area.

Relocation was sought in order to maintain the Council’s excellent reputation for refuse and recycling and other depot related services.

The Refuse and Recycling service is highly regarded by residents with the most recent Residents Survey revealing that 97% of respondents were satisfied with the service.

Enderby Road industrial estate was considered the most convenient and efficient location.

The new depot will contain an administration area, operational staff facilities including a changing/shower block and a fully equipped Training Room.

There will also be extensive vehicle maintenance facilities such as a state-of-the-art vehicle servicing area, with the ability to expand the future workload if required.

Councillor Guy Jackson, Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhood and Regulatory Services, said:

“I’m proud that we have finally managed to start work on our new depot.

“The modernisation will enable us to adapt to the inevitable changes in the coming decades.

“I hope that our investment in the future of such an important and well-regarded service for our residents emphasises the commitment that the Council has to our outstanding Neighbourhood Services team.”

The Council’s social media and website will have the latest news and images on the depot’s construction through to scheduled opening later this year.

Visit www.twitter.com/blabydc or www.facebook.com/blabydc to stay up to date.

Blaby DC new depot under construction
New depot under construction
New Whetstone Depot - artists impression
New Whetstone Depot – artists impression

Blaby District Council awarded funding to launch recycling incentive scheme

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Bin it to win it [graphic]Over £145,000 of central government funding has been awarded to Blaby District Council to start a recycling reward scheme.

Bin It to Win It is a three-year campaign that will encourage residents not to put general waste material in the Council’s recycling bins, in order to improve the current contamination rate.

The campaign will also encourage residents to recycle more of their waste.

The campaign will begin in September with residents whose recycling bins are presented every collection day and contamination free throughout a four-week period entered into a prize draw to win a prize to the value of £30.

There will be ten winners of £30 every four weeks.

Prizes can be put towards a council tax rebate, garden bin, a months membership to The Pavilion Gym in Huncote, or a voucher which will be redeemable at many shops within the district.

Additionally, the two best performing Parish Councils will also be awarded £50 each every four weeks, which is redeemable against services purchased from the District Council.

Blaby District currently has a contamination rate of 7.00% but are looking to reduce this.

The council has been granted £145,182.50 from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) from a fund for Councils to set up recycling reward schemes.

Cllr Guy Jackson
Cllr. Jackson: Recycling is important to us…

Guy Jackson, Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhood and Environmental Services, said:

“We are delighted to have been awarded this funding as it gives us a long-term scheme to try and change residents’ habits.

“Recycling is extremely important for us and we support this with weekly collections.

“Not only will this help to reduce our contamination rate and increase recycling, but we hope it will leave a lasting impression on residents to use our recycling bins responsibly long after the campaign has ended.”

Bin hangers will be used to promote and remind people of the campaign closer to the launch.

For more information, details of the Bin It to Win It campaign can be found at www.blaby.gov.uk.

032-refuse-recycling-lorry-collection

Have your say on changes to Recycling and Household Waste Sites

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032-refuse-recycling-lorry-collectionA consultation has been launched by Leicestershire County Council for residents and organisations to have their say on proposed changes to RHWS (this includes Whetstone tip) and recycling credits paid to charities and other groups in Leicestershire.

The consultation document is available until 26th April 2015 on the following link –

www.leics.gov.uk/haveyoursay/futurewastemanagement