New Food and Garden Waste arrangements announced

02/08/2021

A silver food caddy is on the way but it will cost at least £36 to have your brown garden waste bin emptied

Details of the new arrangements for food and garden waste collections in the Cherwell District have been released.   They show that households are set to receive a new outdoor food waste caddy, due for delivery from September onwards.   The charge being introduced for collecting brown garden waste bins is being set at £40 per year, with a reduction to £36 for anyone who signs up before February 1 next year.

The controversial plans were first announced as part of Cherwell’s budget setting process last December.

The scheme will see brown garden waste bins only collected from properties which have subscribed to the service.   Food waste will no longer be allowed in the brown bins and must instead be placed in the new silver food waste caddy, which will be emptied on a weekly basis.

The charge for collecting garden waste will start on February 1 next year.

The new 23 litre outdoor food caddies are due to be delivered to every house between September and December. They will be three times the size of the existing indoor food caddies.

On their website Cherwell District Council says: “The new food waste service will lead to an overall increase in the amount of food waste collected, and the waste will be used to generate green electricity.

“They should push the district’s recycling rate above 60 per cent, putting us on course to be in the top ten districts nationally for recycling.”

The Council believes that householders can do a lot more to recycle food waste.   They say: “Cherwell residents already recycle 2,500 tonnes of their food waste in the brown bin which is 25 per cent of the food waste thrown away per year in the district.

“Despite this excellent effort, around a third of the weight in the average rubbish bin is still food waste that could have been recycled.

“With this new weekly service, we are supporting residents to recycle the other 7,500 tonnes that is currently thrown away.”

The new weekly food waste collection service is due to start in October, but will take up to January 2022 to fully implement.

Food waste will not be allowed in the brown garden waste bin from February next year.

At the same time brown bins will no longer be emptied at properties where the collection service has not been purchased.   Residents who decide not to purchase the service are advised that they should not place garden waste in their green general waste or blue recycling bins, but instead should take it to the household waste recycling centres at Alkerton or Ardley.

In a set of frequently asked questions the council addresses the issue of garden waste being dumped in other people’s brown bins.   They say: “You are responsible for keeping your brown bin secure to ensure other residents cannot put items into it.”

The Council also believes the new charge for brown bins will not increase fly tipping.   They say: “We have conducted benchmarking with other councils which charge for the collection of garden waste. This has shown that there is not a significant increase in fly-tipping when charges are introduced.

“Any fly-tipping that occurs will be dealt with as per our current arrangements. Fly-tipping is a crime, any person found guilty of fly-tipping will be dealt with, in line with our Environmental Enforcement Policy.”


Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam

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