Council Claim Wheelie Bins Have Boosted Recycling

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Say new system has increased recycling rates to over 50%

Ealing Council has published new figures which it says show a significant increase in recycling in the borough since the introduction of fortnightly collections and wheelie bins.

In June, the first month of the new doorstep service, 55% of all household waste was recycled according to the Council. This compares to 48% in the same month last year an increase of 7 percentage points and above the ‘50% by 2018’ annual recycling target that the council set for itself.

Much of the increase seems to have come from an increase in food waste recycling which retained a weekly collection. Before the service change, 35,000 green food waste bins were in use in the borough. An additional 7000 have been handed out and 150 extra tonnes of food waste was collected this June than in the previous month.

In Southall, the number of households participating in the council’s kerbside recycling service has jumped from 49% before the new service began to 73%.

Councillor Bassam Mahfouz, cabinet member for transport, environment and leisure, said: “I would like to say thank you to all of our residents who have used their blue wheelie bins and green food waste bins to recycle more in June. The increase in food waste participation is particularly encouraging, because of the huge impact this makes environmentally and financially for the council and our residents.

“The service is now working well on the whole, but we are aware that some problems remain in parts of the borough and are working closely with our contractor, and residents, to iron these out. I’m grateful for people’s patience and we will continue to do our best to help everyone to recycle as much as possible.”

Cllr Gregory Stafford, the Leader of the Conservative opposition on the Council said, " Whilst welcome, these unaudited figures are just a snapshot and it remains to be seen whether this level is sustained across the year. Furthermore we are seeing an increase in fly tipping which could be offsetting the recycling figures. A reduction in non recyclable waste could be due to the fact that it is being fly tipped not put in the bins.

"Either way nobody who lives in Ealing can be on any doubt that the implementation of the fortnightly collections has been a disaster. There still residents who haven't had their rubbish collected in six weeks! Residents rightly complain that our streets are getting filthier - the Queen of the Suburbs is becoming the Lord of the Flies."

Liberal Democrat Leader, Councillor Gary Malcolm, said, "The Lib Dems have had more complaints about wheelie bins than anything else and are still getting lots of them. As soon as the wheelie bins were brought in we have seen are streets get much dirtier, large increases in fly tips and so much litter. In addition to this a huge number of residents could not contact the council due to the phone lines being jammed and senior staff not being present. Ealing Council cannot get the simple things right."

July 20, 2016 (updated)