Green fingered residents can benefit from new service
Gardeners will be delighted to hear that from October 31st charges for pink sacks (in which garden waste can is placed for recycling) have been scrapped as part of the council's £2.8 million package of new investment to improve environmental services in the borough.
Green-fingered residents will be able to pick up free sacks from existing outlets including libraries and the Perceval House customer contact centre, or order from ECT Recycling by logging on to www.ectrecycling.co.uk/ealing or phoning 020 8813 3193/3194.
But in keeping with the council's drive to ensure value for money as well as environmental improvements, residents are urged to take only what they will use in the immediate future. The sacks are biodegradable and will perish if they are stockpiled.
To make recycling even easier, residents will have their garden waste sacks collected every fortnight on the same day of the week as their green box.
To find their day and week of collection residents can log on to www.ealing.gov.uk or call Ealing Council customer services on 020 8825 6000.
Councillor Will Brooks, cabinet member for environment and transport, said: “The garden waste collection service has become increasingly popular since the cost of sacks were slashed earlier this year. Since May, almost 1000 tonnes of garden waste collected from households has been recycled, smashing our previous record. Now that the sacks are free I hope more residents will embrace the service and help push our recycling rates up even further. Ealing’s recycling rate for all materials is currently at 25 percent. We want to hit the 30 percent mark by April 2007 and increasing our garden waste recycling will play a significant part in achieving this target."
Items such as grass, plants and weeds can be out in the sacks, which are made from starch and break down naturally as part of the composting process. If garden waste is sent to landfill with normal household rubbish it rots without air and creates methane, which is one of the main greenhouse gases. Using it to make compost is a far better for the environment.
Ealing Council does not accept garden waste in the normal household refuse collection. Please leave pink sacks at the boundary of your property, clearly visible to the collection crew, by 7.30am on your day of collection. Do not leave pink sacks on the pavement.
Pink sacks must only be used for garden waste, those found containing other household waste will not be collected.
October 23, 2006