‘Changing bin times will help combat climate emergency’

A WOKINGHAM resident is calling on the council to change bin collections from peak times to reduce emissions.

Gillian Shaw believes the increased traffic caused by waste collections during rush hour is increasing pollution in Wokingham and across the country.

She said: “For a number of years, I have been using Finchampstead Road at 8am for a regular journey and on Tuesdays see a larger amount of queuing traffic due to the bin collection.

“I contacted Wokingham Borough Council to ask them to change the route to avoid major roads during peak times.

“This has been duly ignored and is causing a huge amount of pollution due to the tail back in traffic.”

In July 2019, the council declared a climate emergency in the borough which commits it to reducing its carbon footprint and to be net carbon zero by 2030.

Within the council’s Climate Emergency Action Plan one of the targets is to “reduce carbon dioxide emissions from transport”.

There are also plans to create a full waste strategy which will focus on waste minimisation, a high recycling rate, improved quality of recycling, reduced collection and disposal costs and reduced carbon emissions.

The council is also hoping to implement new waste collection methods by March 2026.

Mrs Shaw doesn’t think the council is acting in line with their targets to resolve the issue.

She said: “The council themselves cite their plan to ‘reduce carbon dioxide emissions from transport’ but they have not taken steps to ensure the contractors engaged by them on behalf of residents take adequate steps to reduce emissions.”

Currently, waste in Wokingham is collected by Veolia and disposal is processed by re3 through its plants in Reading and Bracknell.

A spokesperson for Veolia said: “Sustainability is a key priority at Veolia.

“Our collection routes are carefully planned to minimise vehicle movements and fuel consumption.

“Our collection crews avoid main roads during peak hours wherever possible, but this must also be balanced with maintaining a clean and safe environment and completing collections for every household.”

According to research by East Cambridgeshire District Council, it estimates that changing which rounds are completed on which day could save nearly 5,000 litres of diesel and 12 tonnes of carbon dioxide every year.

Mrs Shaw would like to see Wokingham Borough Council, and Veolia, make similar efforts to do the same.

She said: “It seems entirely logical to take any and every action we can to reduce emissions and yet something this simple is being overlooked.”

Wokingham Borough Council has been contacted for comment.