Recycling review to take place in Telford & Wrekin

Starting in Woodside and a small part of Madeley the pilot review will see officers from the Waste Team at Telford & Wrekin Council working alongside collection crews to assess the current collection service in the area.

Officers will be taking a note of which recycling containers are left out by residents and an estimated percentage of how much each container is filled, and will be on hand to answer any questions local residents may have regarding waste and recycling.

The aim of the review is to look at ways to increase the overall amount of recycling of all households in the Borough so to prevent the impact of landfill tax set by national government.

In the last six years Telford and Wrekin, thanks to local residents, have increased recycling rates by 13 percent which has saved the local tax payer £1.2 million.

Recent changes to landfill tax mean that the Government levies a charge of £56 per tonne of waste that the Council sends to landfill. This is set to increase by £8 per year to 2014.

Encouraging further increases in recycling rates will reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill which will reduce the burden of these increased costs on the tax payer.

Cllr Shaun Davies, Cabinet Member for Environment, Co-operative Council & Partnerships, said: “The Council recognises the fantastic effort by the community in increasing the amount we recycle in recent years and wants to engage with the community by reviewing its waste and recycling levels in the area.

“This review is a necessary task if we are to ensure that the additional landfill taxes being levied on Councils are not passed on to our Council Tax payers.

“I can assure everyone that this is not an exercise to snoop in bins and monitoring of the waste in individual grey bins will not be a task of the officers undertaking the review.

“I would encourage anyone with questions about the review in the area to come along to one of the sessions that the Waste Team have arranged in the local area or have a chat while the team are in the area.”

The review of recycling will take place over the coming weeks, with further work with the community taking place in the New Year once recycling rates have been identified and a way forward is developed.

The Waste Team welcome any questions the public have on the review and will be happy to speak to people whilst they are out with the collection crews.

Alternatively, officers will be available at the following locations to chat about the review:

• Park Lane Centre, Woodside – Friday 21 October, 11am to 3pm
• Park Lane Centre, Woodside – Monday 5 to Friday 9 December, 9am to 4pm
• Woodside Christmas Fete – Friday 2 December
• Jubilee House, Madeley High Street – Thursday 20 October, 11am to 3pm
• Tesco, Madeley – Monday 9 to Friday 13 January, 9am to 4pm

Any residents who will be affected by the review will shortly be receiving a letter to inform them.

This initiative will be rolled out across the borough to encourage residents to increase the amount of waste they are recycling.