Food waste from Cheshire East households will have to go in black bins from January amid plans to charge residents for garden waste recycling, admits the council.
Food recycling will formally stop next year in Cheshire East as legally authorities are not allowed to charge to collect food waste.
But council chiefs agreed that residents who pay the new £56 green bin subscription from January won’t be fined if they continue to put food waste in with garden waste.
The environment and communities committee voted on Thursday to press ahead with the introduction in January of the controversial charge to empty garden waste bins.
Tom Shuttleworth, director of environment and neighbourhood services, said: “We recognise, with any service change, there’s always a period of adjustment which may see some food waste being placed in the garden waste bin.
“Where this is the case, we won’t be looking to take any sort of enforcement action with residents, we will be heavily educating [for home composting].”
When asked for clarification on just exactly what people should do with their food waste after January, he said: “If asked, the position will be, food waste needs to go into your black bin.”
The officer told the committee, the council had no alternative but to bring in the charge because it needed to raise £4m to fill a funding gap.
Wilmslow councillor David Jefferay (Ind) said: “It’s very much unpopular but I think it’s a decision that we have to make. We don’t have the luxury of saying let’s choose not to do this.”
But the Conservatives, who voted against it, asked if all alternative options had been explored.
Poynton councillor Hayley Whitaker (Con) said the council should have looked at reducing the green bin service over the winter months as this would have reduced costs.
“It’s unfortunate our current slogan’s around greener and that kind of thing, because it doesn’t look greener,” she said.
Knutsford councillor Stewart Gardiner (Con) said: “People will put their food waste in their black bins, they will even, on occasion, be hiding their garden waste in their black bins, so there will be even more waste we’ve got to dispose of through the black bin process which will be more expensive.”
Cllr Janet Clowes (Wybunbury, Con) said the cost of dealing with black bin waste was three times as high as dealing with green waste.
“The reason we looked at producing our own green hub site [which processes garden and food waste] at Leighton Grange was to prevent us having to pay three other operators to do that work for us which was highly expensive, and we built in the free green bin waste collections on the back of those savings we would make,” she said.
“If we think about what it costs to transport additional black bin waste, we have to take on board the cost environmentally of haulage.”
Macclesfield councillor Ashley Farrall (Lab) who abstained from the vote, was concerned about the unused garden bins which would be left on streets and possibly set on fire.
Seven committee members voted for the subscription charge to go ahead from January and the five Conservatives voted against.
Speaking after the meeting – and stressing he was speaking on behalf of himself and not the council – leader Sam Corcoran told the LDRS: “I will be taking up the green waste bin subscription service and I intend to continue putting food waste into the green bin. I think this is an excellent service.
“I will also continue to home compost where space in my compost bin allows.”
This article does not appear to accurately reflect what the council say on their own website:
“From January 2024, if you’d like us to empty your garden bin, you will need to be signed up to our Garden Waste Recycling Scheme.
If you subscribe to the scheme, you may also choose to continue recycling your food waste by putting it in your garden bin.”
So, they are actively stating we can still put food waste in the garden bin if we subscribe to the scheme.
Source: https://www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/waste_and_recycling/bins/food-waste-collections.aspx
This Council is showing its true colour and its not green. It will cost more to administrate this scheme than will be collected. Councils are declaring climate emergencies through out the UK, you should be providing residents with free recycling facilities.
How much money is owed to the Council by people who have not paid their Council Tax? I am sure that would plug the gap in the Council’s finances.
Why are the Labour council doing this? They are supposed to be green
If the Tories were running the council, there would not be no charge, Kier Starmer please note.
Disgruntled Council Tax Payer.
@joe
Stupid comment
So, I’m confused, is it permissible to put grass cuttings etc in the black bin, along with food waste ?
Every brown bin put to kerb currently is not filled fully, what is the point of wheeling out any colour bin unless it is full. The time it takes for a worker to empty a part filled bin is the same as a fully filled bin. I share with a neighbour as I don’t have much but given the waste in costs I would have thought the idea of filling a bin fully to save on staff cost should really have been looked at first. Object to the way shallow thinking is all these council people are capable of
Please can you consider a concession for the over 65″s. It’s so important to stay active in the garden and not struggle with bags of garden waste going to the tip. Everybody has to pay enough on General Rates as well and we don’t always feel the value in Services provided.
Does food waste not ho in small brown bins or is this different from our area?
It won’t be just the food waste going in my black bin,it will also get a good load of garden waste as well,no way am I paying a green bin tax,and before someone says its not a tax,it is.
It has been included in my council tax for years and I will not be paying extra for it just because someone idiot from the council can’t balance the books,given all the new housing that is being build in the local area I would have thought that all that new council tax would plug any shortfall.
Also all surrounding areas who do pay for the garden waste to be collected pay significantly less than the 56 pounds that we are being charged.
A total shambles of a council, suppose that have to recoup there allowance rise from somewhere, diabolical performance as usual
So, food in the black bin as previously??? And an expensive food waste recycling plant lying idle?? What a shower these councillors are….
Labour council
So £56 from 2024 for collection of green waste bins…..will that charge be increased year on year. NOT A GOOD DECISION. Wonder what other services we pay for through our rates, will be separated out into additional charges.