Garden waste scheme success
Almost 350 tonnes of garden waste has been collected from
residents since the start of Wyre Forest District Council's new
collection scheme in April. That is nearly 15,000 bins worth
of garden waste which has been diverted from landfill.
Mountains of weeds, leaves and grass cutting have been recycled
by the 1,200 residents who have joined the scheme.
The Council introduced the service as part of its plans to
increase recycling and its work to reduce the amount of garden
waste which is put in household refuse bins. This is because
if garden waste is sent to landfill it will rot in the ground and
produce methane – a greenhouse gas which contributes to climate
change.
One of the first residents to sign up was Karen Chance from
Stourport. 
She said,
"We are really pleased with our garden waste collection. We
joined as we were fed up of taking trips to the tip and getting
garden mess in the car!! Also we seemed to have bin bags of garden
rubbish constantly around the garden. Now it's a lot easier the
garden is tidy, and hopefully we are doing our bit for the
environment which I'm trying to educate my children about."
She added,
"I would recommend the service to anyone, and it's worth the
money, obviously the first year has the initial outlay of the bin
but after that it's very good value for money. We would give it ten
out of ten. One time we forgot to put our bin out and the
guys came on the drive and took the bin emptied it then returned it
back on the drive. Where can you get a better service than that? We
will definitely be signing up next year!"
The garden waste collection service ends on 26th
November for 2010. Collections will start again in March 2011
but residents do not have to wait until then to sign up, they can
join at any time of the year. If they join now they would
also benefit from an extra collection in January.
Councillor Nathan Desmond, Wyre Forest District Council's
Cabinet Member for Resources said,
"We would like to thank all the residents who have joined the
scheme. We are pleased with the results of the service so
far. Garden waste is no different to any other recyclable rubbish
and should not go to landfill so the success has been extremely
encouraging."
He added,
"Our recycling campaign across the District continues to go from
strength to strength. We improved the refuse and recycling
service in the summer and this has helped us reach record recycling
rates of more than 33% (33.3%). This is an eight per cent
increase since the Council introduced the new service in
July. Thank you to all and please keep up the good work,
helping us to improve the environment."
The garden waste collection service costs £30 plus a one off £20
fee (payable by Direct Debit only) when residents join the
scheme. Anyone wishing to see if their area is included in
the scheme can easily check by visiting the garden waste
web pages or emailing the garden waste
team . Anyone without access to the internet can
check by contacting the Worcestershire Hub on 01562 732928.
There are more details and a form to sign up for the scheme
on the website.
Photographs shows resident Karen Chance with Councillor Nathan
Desmond.
Date of issue - 12th November 2010