Rubbish revolution TOWN HALL CHIEFS REVEAL AMBITIOUS PLANS FOR WASTE COLLECTIONS
THE timescale for Kirklees’ ‘rubbish revolution’ has finally been revealed.
As part of its annual plan for 2021/22, the council revealed several ambitious ideas for its waste services within the next 12 months.
One of the first of the these is the plan to open a brand new re-use shop in Huddersfield next month.
The shop will see items of value left at the tip, recycled, repaired or repurposed and sold back to the public.
A new bulky waste collection system is also scheduled for April, something many people in Huddersfield have been particularly enthusiastic about.
Resident Emma Stocks said: “At the moment it’s been a real nightmare to get bulky items removed. You have to leave items on your doorstep or lawn and hope somebody comes to collect them in the next few weeks. Sometimes it can even take months. “
“I think this new collection system sounds great - if it can actually do what it promises.”
The council also aims to deliver new measures to tackle fly-tipping by May.
Through the use of overt and covert CCTV, it is hoped that the new move will help to deter rubbish dumpers.
Further ahead still, November next year has also been earmarked by the council for a trial on kerbside glass collections.
It’s been more than eight years since the last four-weekly glass collections took place, a move which was largely attributed to the council’s ongoing contract with French provider Suez at the time.
Although cheap, the restrictive deal meant that many recyclable items that should not go to landfill were actually banned from green bins in the borough.
This included margarine tubs, yoghurt pots, fruit juice/milk tetra packs, plastic food containers and the lids from plastic bottles and glass.
Yet with the contract now set to end in 2023, things could change soon.
Looking to the future, Kirklees Council wants to focus on the four Rs: reduce, reuse, recycle and recover. Yet much of their ambitious plan depends on the recommendations due in the government’s forthcoming Environment Bill.
According to statistics released by the
Government Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs for 2019/20, it is presently one of the worst household waste recycling providers in the country with a rate of only 26.7%, with the overall average in England standing at
43.8%.
The council has itself the goal of becoming the best performing authority in the UK by 2030.