CHANGES are being proposed for waste and recycling services in Tameside to help protect limited funds for vital services.
Tameside Council has launched a consultation on proposed changes to the waste and recycling service to involve residents in the plans and give them an opportunity to give feedback.
Continuing pressures caused by the coronavirus pandemic, increased demand for services and government cuts of almost £200 million over the last 10 years, mean the council is faced with having to make savings of another £23 million this financial year to balance the budget for 2021-22.
The main changes being proposed involve charging for replacement bins and moving black bin (plastic bottles, glass and cans) and blue bin (paper and cardboard) recycling collections to every three weeks. Green bin (non recyclable waste) and brown bin (food and garden waste) will remain the same.
The three weekly black and blue bin collections will be trialled in three pilot areas at the same time as the wider consultation to test how well it works. Households involved in the three-month pilot will receive a letter explaining more and giving details of how they can give feedback.
It is estimated that by introducing a charge of £25.63 per bin for replacement/additional recycling bins, it will generate/save £190k a year, while reverting back to collections every three weeks (as they were several years ago) rather than two for blue and black recycling bins, it is estimated the service can save £396k a year. Both these strategies will help safeguard vital services such as supporting vulnerable children and adults.
The proposed new policy also sets out the service standards pledged by the council to residents in collecting their waste and recycling. In return, residents are asked to reduce, reuse and recycle their waste as much as possible to do their bit to help save money and protect the environment.
Tameside Council Executive Member Cllr Allison Gwynne said: “We, like every other council in the country, are under enormous pressure to make financial savings while also delivering services that are valued the most by residents and in particular supporting and protecting vulnerable children and adults.
“The changes in policies proposed could make a huge difference for relatively little pain and this is an opportunity for everyone to get involved and positively help shape a sustainable and effective service for the future.
“We will be retaining our policy for additional bins for those households that meet the criteria and retaining the same frequency of collections for the green non-recyclable waste bin. Research tells us that the majority or the black and blue recycling bins aren’t full when collected but It is important to us to check the proposals will work and find out what people think so, as well as consulting on the wider strategy, we will be piloting the collection frequency change plans for blue and black bins and asking the specific households involved how it went so we can be sure it will work on a wider scale. We will be reporting back on the consultation and results of the pilot later in the year.”
For more information and to have your say visit www.tameside.gov.uk/wastepolicy2021
Consultation will run for 12 weeks from 28 July 2021 until 20 October 2021
I don’t think so. We already don’t get enough time to empty bins and with increasing council tax this must be a joke.
What an absolutely terrible idea.
I recycle all my rubbish and yet I still mage to fill both blue bin and black bin. In fact most weeks we have to take extra rubbish to the tip! And yet your only allowed there once a week with your car! What’s that all about!
We have a household of 4 ( 2adults and 2 Children) and yet still have large amounts of recycling. I feel sorry for larger households.
We are in council tax band D. So we are already paying a large sum of money and yet you want to make our bin collection 3 weekly instead of 2. I think it’s disgraceful. So tell me what exactly am I paying my council tax for?! If your reducing my services but yet I’m still expected to pay the same large bill!
“Proposed changes?” They already charge £25 for replacement bins! “Proposed” indeed!
Other councils are on a three week rota, but those households have bigger bins. If this change is too be implemented bigger bins need to be provided to each household, just like Stockport and Oldham. We should also have an option to decline paying for the service from the council and pay private companies to empty the bins instead.
Yes do feel sorry for larger households nut as a 1 person home paying 75% we are subsidising these homes
My blue and black bins are always full up by two weeks is the absolute maximum if you want people to continue to recycle
This is bad. You charging us huge council tax . My bins are full within a week because I have kids. I would understand if it was bigger bins. This is unacceptable.
it’s an absolute joke my brown bin has been out since thursday night last week as they decided nit to empty it on friday still not been emptied
as with everyone else we pay for a service that we are clearly not recovering
Absolutely not, it needs to be more often not further apart. Absolute joke. Which half wit decided this would be a good idea? How do they come up with this nonsense.
We need these to be collected weekly! Am really struggling every week as they always full before collection.
It’s a no from me. Council tax has increased so it should cover the cost.
Great idea if you are a one person household. For a 5 person household like us, we fill a large black bin in 2 weeks and have to jump up and down on a small blue bin just to keep the lid closed. If you need to cut my service, then cut my council tax bill too.
April 1st has been and gone or is this a re-run.
Must bin joking ever 3 weeks? 2 weeks is hard enough and we do recycle all four of us in are household.
Brown once a month blue and black ever 3 weeks and GREEN EVERY WEEK.
If council needs to make changes. Switch off the street lights one hour earlier am and one hour later pm this will save money. Also rent out and sell off some of the buildings and land you have in the pension pot especially in Stalybridge to raise money.
Bins get full as it is on fortnightly collection. Emptying bins less often is going to create more problems than solve. Can’t see anyone wanting to buy extra bins to make up for it either as we already have 4 bins per household taking up space.
Ridiculous our black and blue bin is always full green bin we have to take extra bags to the tip and people get bins pinched if you don’t do more to help people will burn rubbish in their gardens and won’t recycle ?
Absolutely rediculous idea.
We have a busy household, 2 adults and 2 young children and we will easily fill our black and blue bins and even have surplus to take to the tip ourselves some weeks. Not forgetting that we are now limited with the amount of times we can visit the tips to dispose of our rubbish this would become an issue very quickly for us and I’m sure alot of other people too if you change our bin collections.
Our bins are narrow and the smaller size unlike some bins other councils have that fit more recycling in as it is… To then reduce the collections would be rediculous!
We already have rats coming into our garden and sometimes finding their way into our loft!! because of the building works disturbing their burrows we dont need to be having more encouraged by having to have more rubbish around and not kept tidy not to forget mentioning the smell of the rubbish if it’s not collected especially in warmer weather. (not everyone washes out their tins and bottles!)
Also flytipping is ready a problem in the area… Do you not think this would worsen if people’s bins are full?
I really believe this would be a terrible change for the area and should not be considered by the council.
Awful idea, it is a nightmare as it is with 2 adults and 2 kids. How do we formally object to this?
Whilst the covid situation has lead to cost cutting requirements, these should come from central government and not be cutting services which are already under resourced and stretched to capacity. Bin collection whilst the easiest form of saving, also represent the biggest and most widely used council service therefore reducing the volume of collections would leave Tameside with new costs to handle rats, fly tipping and other counter productive issues. Perhaps a focus on reducing unnecessary travel for members and staff, increase remote working and improve inefficient systems to reduce costs would be a better way to approach the deficits left by Covid. I as many, do not agree with the approach and proposed plans in the least.
I have a large black bin from before the swap Iver when we were large house hold so I now only put Mt black bin out every 4 weeks.. I have 2 blue bins ,which are often both full .
Not sure about charging for the replacement bins, they are often damaged by the bin men , like my sons ,in high peak they just took it there and then, they have 5 children , no black bin, were told THEY HAD to pay for its replacement .. disgusting as they didn’t damage the bin .!
My other point is why is there still such z lot of things you don’t recycle!!!!! When other areas do ?
There is only myself and partner living in the house and we constantly fill all the bins to the point where I have to make regular visits to the tip. The capacity of new bins are shocking and I’m sure I had to pay already for the bin when I moved into my home 4 years ago.
I appreciate that the councils are under pressure but they really do commission some rubbish in areas. People already feel that the only benefit to their council tax is the bin collection, which has continued to rise. You really do need to re evaluate the finances and operate it like a business.
Can’t be serious, proving small bins, and then reduced service, How about having a reduced council tax ?
If the council need to save money I would like to suggest that they cut the amount of councillors from 57 we only need 1 per ward which is 19 this is a savings of38 wages that is a savings of £464.788 plus expenses