Forum topic: Waste Collection: Consultation now on!

Enfield is currently consulting on potential changes to green waste and food collection, or rather asking which of two options are preferred.

These options are:

a fortnightly green bin collection for food and garden waste

or

Residents who want to continue to have their green bin emptied weekly will be charged £60 per year. LBE will provide a separate food collection service every week, free of charge, for all properties.

I can't see how a food collection service only will save money, but I can see how charging £60 a year for green waste might earn money! That is is enough people opt for this and the cost of dealing with fly tipping doesn't outweigh it.

Having looked at the online questionnare I think that we need an explanation of the "free food collection" option and how the costs stack up.

Also, any food collection system will need to avoid the old problems of food waste being spread across the road and pavement by foxes. The large bins have solved this problem.

There are no changes proposed for blue or black bin collections.

See

www.enfield.gov.uk/info/867/current_consultations/3964/green_bin_consultation

The closing date is 2 September

Note that the food collection continues weekly free of charge for everyone as I read option 2. That's why I find the savings argument difficult to follow. Confusing!

I've been given the phone number of an officer who knows more about this and will try to speak to him and report back.

I spoke to the Head of Commercial & Client Services (Public Realm) about the bin survey. He did his best to explain it but I’m still a little hazy. What follows is only my interpretation.

LBE’s consultants started with a list of 14,000 options based on variations of types of collection, so having it down to two is I suppose an achievement.

As I understand it, eventually there will be only one collection system which will apply to the whole borough, either Option 1 or 2. It’s not down to an individual choice of a collection method. This is at least partly because of the complexity of a system using a range of bins (green, black, and blue) of different sizes in different collection cycles. This would also reduce any savings.

If Option 1 is to be the new system there may be the possibility of buying an additional green bin or having a larger one instead of a small one (bins are 240 or 140 litre) to compensate for the reduced frequency of collection. The current costs are £51 to buy or swop a bin, with an annual collection charge of £52.80 for a second bin thereafter.

In a majority do want Option 2, as I understand it those who decline to pay £60 for weekly green bin collection won’t be able to retain their green bin. Alternatively bins may be kept, but a system will be introduced to ensure that non-payers aren’t able to hitch a ride by having their bin emptied for free.

Given this sort of weekly paid for option, a typical take up in other local authorities is less than 20%. It therefore seems to me to be very unlikely that Option 2 will be chosen by the majority in Enfield.

However under option 2 even those who decline to pay £60 would have a weekly food waste collection using a smaller bin, probably the 25l size replaced by the current larger bins.

I stress that this is my interpretation.