York’s recycling 'going well'

7:04pm Thursday 26th April 2007

YORK'S environment boss said fortnightly bin collections are proving a success, despite a new report placing the city well down a national recycling league table.

A report by the Local Government Association (LGA) placed York 170th out of about 350 councils in the country, with a recycling rate of 24.4 per cent.

But Andrew Waller, the council's executive member for neighbourhood services, said the table was based on statistics that were "way out of date".

He said the figures in the report were from spring 2006, when York's fortnightly collections had only been in place for a few months, and that recycling in York had since risen to about 38 per cent.

The report by the LGA showed authorities that had introduced fortnightly bin collections had a recycling rate about 30 per cent higher than those that still collected rubbish every week.

In York, the collections went fortnightly 18 months ago, and Coun Waller said the move had been vindicated.

He said: "I think it has been a success. Some people have said they were apprehensive at the time but now they have got used to it, and are keen recyclers."

When the proposed changes were first announced, more than 7,500 readers of The Press signed our Bin It! petition protesting against the idea.

Many feared the changes would lead to a surge in rat and insect infestations and bad smells in summer and, in December, it emerged that there had been a small increase in rat complaints since the changes.

The ten councils with the highest recycling rates, and eight of the fastest-rising ten use fortnightly collections. The LGA report named Ryedale as the fifth most-improved authority. North Kesteven District Council, in Lincolnshire, had the highest recycling rate, with 51.5 per cent.

LGA chairman Sandy Bruce Lockhart said: "Councils are using many different techniques to make sure that as much rubbish is recycled to help the environment and keep council tax down.

"It is up to each council, with their local residents, to decide which sort of approach is used to ensure that local residents help do their bit for the environment.

"With landfill taxes set to rise dramatically in the coming five years, there will be more and more pressure on councils to cut the amount of rubbish that gets thrown into landfill."

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