Rotherham's cardboard recycling 'amnesty' set to end

The council says that the period of transition to new rules governing the collection of green waste will end next week and cardboard put in green bins will no longer be collected.

Strict new rules on the collection of green waste for composting came into force on March 19, but residents were given two weeks to familiarise themselves with the new rules.

The changes have come about as a result of new composting guidance by the Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP) and the Association for Organics Recycling (AfOR), requiring the Council to change the current collection arrangements

A council spokesman said: "We have responded to a small number of calls from customers who said that they were not aware of the changes. We have distributed over 100,000 leaflets outlining the new arrangements and have tried to remain flexible during this adjustment period."

The council says that it anticipates that the majority of card produced will fit into the existing blue bag or bags when flattened. If it will not fit, large corrugated card will be collected if folded and secured under the blue box in the same way that a number of other councils already provide the service.

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The other option is to recycle the cardboard at the Household Waste Recycling Centres.

The spokesman added: "Quite simply the cost of providing 112,000 new bins would have been over £2 million pounds. There would also have been the additional cost of adapting the existing recycling vehicles. We can still provide a quality service at a fraction of that cost with a number of ways for people to dispose of their cardboard.

"To have spent such an excessive amount would have been irresponsible at any time, but especially under the current financial climate.

"In continuing to support recycling and not ceasing the collection of cardboard altogether the Council has had to take a pragmatic view."

Householders are being encouraged to request an additional blue bag if required and RMBC are purchasing a slightly larger blue bag to replace the existing ones, which will be phased in later this year.

A blue bag currently costs approximately 69 pence but the cost of a wheeled bin is over £20.

Collection crews ahave been instructed to return blue bags and secure them on the property, preferably under the empty blue box or attached to the empty green bin.

Waste management collection crews are collecting the following for recycling/composting:

Blue bag - paper and card.

Blue box - glass, cans and textiles.

Green bin - garden waste.

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