Saturday, August 16, 2008

RECYCLING WASTE


Much of a Councillor's daily work is mundane and we rarely receive compliments, but last week a resident thanked me for my help over a recycling issue. She had tried without success to get a green bin from Bedford Borough Council to recycle her garden waste, so she wrote to me last Sunday evening.

I followed up the problem immediately and on Tuesday a new green bin was delivered to the resident who then emailed me:

"I had a pleasant surprise this evening when I returned home - to find a green bin waiting outside my house. This must be some sort of record for dealing with a resident's concern! I am beyond impressed! Thank you very much indeed for your help"

Councils are keen to increase their recycling rates because the Government is discouraging the use of landfill sites and is introducing punitive Landfill Taxes which council taxpayers will have to pay if recycling rates do not rise rapidly.

Bedfordshire has a Waste Management Strategy to increase recycling eg the Barkers Lane Household Waste Recycling Site in Bedford was refurbished and achieved 80% recycling for the first time in June. The County recycling figure for June was 45%,
5.4% more than 2007. Bedford households will soon have orange lidded bins to increase their dry recycling, as well as green lidded bins for garden waste, reducing dramatically the amount of waste from black bins going to landfill.

Remember that the more waste you recycle, the less landfill tax you will pay in future years.

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