Many York residents face changes to their recycling collections in 2017.
Around a third of the city’s properties will be affected by a proposal to change the day their recycling is picked up by City of York Council.
The proposals are aimed at saving the council £400K a year while reducing the amount of waste going to landfill. They would also see recycling rolled out further into the sticks.
Four jobs will be lost as part of the efficiency drive, and a further four vacancies left unfilled, if councillors approve the plan at the environment meeting on January 9.
New routes will enable the council’s kerbside recycling collection service runs at full capacity.
What will happen
The change to the day of collection would be brought in from April 3, 2017. Properties affected would receive a new rubbish and recycling calendar in the post from March.
Instead of having rubbish collections and recycling collections on the same day of alternate weeks, they would be picked up on different days.
By reorganising collection routes the council says it will be able to include York’s new housing developments and homes without having to allocate additional resources.
Residents in the affected areas would be offered free recyling boxes, lids and nets. Rubbish (grey bin/black bags) and garden waste (green bin) collections are not affected.
Two new recycling vehicles are being brought in which are “bespoke and are being manufactured to suit our methods of collection” according to a report to councillors. These will be more efficient, particularly in terraced streets.
Once the decision has been taken, you will be able to check whether your home is affected by going to a special page on the council website.
Savings include…
£216K – loss of 8 full time equivalent posts
£116K – decreased reliance on the use of casual staff
£40K – reduced co-mingling of recycled materials
In 2015/16 over 2,900 tonnes of recyclable material was co-mingled which costs the council c.£200k compared to if it was separated.
‘Boost’ for recycling
This year the council is due to spend about £360K more than it has budgeted for on the waste collection service. The proposals will enable it to stay within budget.
Cllr Andrew Waller, executive member for the environment, said:
Improving recycling levels will reduce landfill tax to enable more council funds to be used on frontline services. This will work with campaigns across the whole city to encourage a higher recycling rate.
A second phase of the review of waste services will take place next year and will look at rubbish collections (grey bins/black bags) and green waste collections.