Cost savings of new wheelie bins brought into focus

CHANGES to Wokingham’s bin collections were queried by residents at a meeting of the borough council, held on Thursday, March 21.

This summer, residents will receive a new wheelie bin and, from the autumn ,collections with alternate between recycling and general waste, with food waste taken weekly. This is the same set-up as in neighbouring Reading and is aimed at boosting recycling rates.

Erin Gallagher said the new system would ‘make things more inefficient’ and wanted to know how it would save money.

Responding, Cllr Ian Shenton, the executive member for active travel, transport and highways, said: “The first component of the savings comes from the £350,000 we’ve been spending on single-use blue plastic bags, which will not be needed.

“The second comes from operational efficiencies made by moving to the new collection system.”

He said almost two-thirds of waste in blue bags could have been recycled, which would save up to £100 per tonne.

“This will generate significant savings in disposal costs. The council can no longer afford the luxury of spending £1 million per year than we need on waste disposal.”

Ms Gallagher felt her question had not been answered, and also wanted to know if any potential strikes had been taken into account with the savings calculations.

Cllr Shenton simply said: “I believe I did answer your question. The savings come from three components – that’s how it saves money.”

Guy Grandison wanted to know what provision had been made for homes that cannot store wheelie bins, which he described as ‘ an eyesore’.

A review was promised by Cllr Shenton “on a case-by-case basis”, but officers had also drawn on experiences of other councils.

“So, you haven’t actually done the work?” Mr Grandison replied. “My supplementary question was simple: how many homes were actually affected, but if you haven’t done the work, how could you make a guess when you’re ordering the bins in the first place?”

Cllr Shenton said it was an ongoing process. “Most of (the work) has been done, but as things come to our attention, we will look at them on an individual basis.”

Mr Grandison is a former Conservative borough councillor, and Ms Gallagher is his partner.