Council leaders plan for a greener future with new waste and recycling strategy

Cheshire West and Chester Council’s Cabinet is set to decide on a more sustainable future for waste and recycling services in the borough.

At its meeting on Wednesday 9 June, cabinet members will discuss the proposed Waste Management Strategy, which will shape how the Council delivers waste services over the next 10 years.

It will respond to Climate Change challenges, waste reduction and the need to recycle more. The new model will provide a fairer waste and recycling service that will give greater value for money.

The Council’s current Waste Strategy is nearly 20 years old and is no longer fit for purpose. 

In January, the Council embarked on a major consultation exercise to plan for the new Waste Management Strategy. Residents and other stakeholders were asked to give their views on proposals for the new service. More than 14,800 people responded, and the proposed new service has been shaped based on these responses.

More than 73 per cent of those who responded agreed with the Council’s key priorities for the waste strategy. They are to reduce overall waste, maximise recycling and deliver an efficient and cost-effective service.

Residents who responded also said that the existing boxes were difficult to carry and easily damaged and that more recycling capacity should be provided to households. 

Based on the findings of the consultation and some of the challenges facing the service, the key recommendations for the new Waste Management Strategy include:

• Household waste collected fortnightly using a 180 litre wheeled bin (as per the current arrangement). 
• Two larger capacity recycling bins on wheels collected fortnightly to replace existing 55-litre boxes.
• Food collections weekly using existing small food bin (as per the current arrangement).
• People will be supported with special arrangements if their housing circumstances makes it more difficult to accommodate larger bins.
• A chargeable garden waste collection service to be provided over 40 weeks of the year, covering the ‘growing season’ between March and November.
• The garden waste collections to continue fortnightly, in line with the frequency of the proposed kerbside collection service
• There would be a charge of £40 per year per container for garden waste collections. This equates to £2 per collection and is in line with the current additional capacity charge.

If adopted, the new service would reduce carbon emissions by 220,000kg a year and help to ensure that the service is more financially sustainable.

The new service would be in place for a minimum of three years. During this time, the Council would continue to look at ways it could continue to work with residents to reduce the amount of waste that we all produce and increase levels of reuse and recycling.

Cheshire West and Chester Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment. Highways and Strategic Transport, Cllr Karen Shore said: “We would like to thank all those residents of the borough who took part in the Waste Strategy consultation. It was the largest response we have ever had and it is an area that people in our borough are very interested in.

“It is clear from the responses that people in Cheshire West and Chester share the view that we must do all we can to reduce the amount of waste we produce and recycle even more than we do already.

“People recognise that Climate Change presents us with challenges and it is clear from the responses that residents of the borough are ready to rise to these challenges.

“Bin collections is one of the areas where we have direct contact with every household in the borough. We are determined to offer our residents a modern service that responds to their needs.

“We have some tough decisions to make due to the financial pressures we face. We will make a decision which will provide the best long-term outcome for everyone in our borough.”

Cllr Shore added: “Our residents have told us that they want to continue to engage with the Council over the future for waste and recycling services in the borough and we will do this. As the world continues to change we will have to be prepared to change with it in the years to come and we will ensure that our residents are involved in this process every step of the way.”

The Cabinet meeting will take place at 10am on Wednesday 9 June and can be viewed via the Council’s website:

www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk

Pictured - Councillor Karen Shore.