Garden waste collections dropped to save cash

During December, January and February, dustmen will only empty bins containing cardboard.

This is because green bins are not generally filled with enough green waste during the winter months to be properly processed for compost.

Yorkshire Horticultural Supplies, which currently has the contract to deal with Rotherham’s mountain of garden rubbish, is said to be “experiencing great difficulty” composting green bin waste because the majority is cardboard.

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While green bins during the summer have a 60/40 split between garden waste and card, the ratio changes to 10/90 in winter.

A report to councillors said that the council wanted to stop collecting green waste until March as this would save up to £43,000 in gate fees and other charges at YHS depots.

“It is proposed to halt the collection of garden waste for the three months but continue to collect cardboard which would not only help to alleviate the problems at YHS, but realise potential savings from gate fees and allow the possibility of selling the cardboard to re-processors.

“Householders would be notified of the trial by a prominent sticker on the lid of their green bin, with further information on the council website.”

The Cabinet member for neighbourhoods, Cllr Jahangir Akhtar, said at a council meeting that he was concerned about the possible consequences for people who continued to put garden waste in their bins and asked for assurances that they would be treated sympathetically and not penalised in any way.

A council spokesman said: “Householders will not be penalised if they forget and small amounts of garden waste are placed into the green bin.

“However, this could potentially affect the quality of the cardboard for recycling and may incur additional sorting costs for the council.”

Cardboard will still be collected as usual and could be sold for up to £26 a tonne, with council officers estimating that 1,000 tonnes could be collected during the three-month trial.

Garden waste should be composted at home or taken to recycling sites, the council said.

Cllr Akhtar added: “Over recent years we have found that the amount of garden waste really drops off in the winter months but that the amount of cardboard increases.

“It makes far more sense to recycle the cardboard back into new cardboard products rather than trying to compost it.”

Householders are being asked to ensure that any cardboard placed in the green bin is clean with no tape, plastic inserts and polystyrene filler.

The full garden waste and cardboard collection service will re-start from Monday, February 28, next year.

People will be notified separately of the arrangements for the Christmas and New Year collections.

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LETTERS: Make up your minds over green bins.