The Echo has a report here that there’s going to be an indefinite delay to the start of the new recycling scheme:
A NEW recycling scheme aimed at making Rochford District Council one of the greenest in Essex has been postponed indefinitely, it has been revealed.
Earlier this year, the district council trumpeted its new agreement with waste firm, Sita, which included plans to give every household three wheelie bins.
One was to be used for kitchen and garden waste and was to be emptied weekly and the other two were for recyclables and non-recyclables, collected on alternate weeks.
However, the changes have now been put on hold for the foreseeable future and there is no fixed date for when they will be brought into operation.
At the moment, the existing recycling arrangements for bottles, cans and paper will continue and residents will also be able to retain their current blue box for bottles and cans.
Although the new contractors Sita started work at the beginning of April, arrangements for the changes are far from complete, Rochford District Council said.
Council officials put the changes on hold until the results of a pilot scheme by Sita in Warwick are known…..
It’s disappointing that the new system isn’t starting immediately. But our understanding is that there’s no crisis, things will be sorted out and the new scheme will start during the summer….
To be honest I’m not surprised……….
When Sita took over the green waste collection we were told we would see no interruption in service. My green waste has been collected once in 6 weeks, and have been fed lie after lie by both RDC and Sita. It took days of phoning daily to get it collected two weeks ago. Was supposed to have next collection yesterday – wasn’t collected, when I phoned RDC was told that they had run out of time and it would be collected today – I wasn’t at all surprised to see it still in the bin when I got home from work.
Why did RDC switch contractors? Probably to cut costs, but as a result it is the poor residents of RDC suffering.
An appalling service!
Corey, I gave up putting my recycling on the kerbside over a year ago, I take mine to the recycling centre every couple of weeks. Maybe I should ask for a rebate on my council tax!
Corey, I’m copying your comments about your experiences. to Cllr Michael Starke, who was the cabinet member for recycling last year, and to Chris Lumley , who is our recycling specialist….
I am an avid recycler BUT like Mike do most of it myself. There is a lack of education & support locally. It’s so easy to do but if people are confused, they just won’t bother. It all has to be made very easy and very convenient.
Trevor, I agree with you completely but we have been lagging way behind other parts of the country. There has been very little you could recycle on the kerbside and that little blue box does not hold very much. I know you can put bags alongside but in the seasons where we get copious amounts of rain, wind or both it makes a real mess! Hence it is easier and less messy to take it down to the recycling centre. Hopefully when we finally get our new service, we will be able to recycle everything possible. What I don’t understand is why we can actually recycle more at the recycling centre than the refuse lorries can actually take. Surely they must both end up in the same place?
Hi all,
You will note that I only mentioned green waste collection. Temple Way does not have a recycling collection – we have no choice other than take it to a recycling centre. We were told two years ago that the collection vehicle could not navigate Temple Way – another example of poor planning!
Thankfully, my green waste was collected today, albeit 2 days late, still it has been collected and leaves me with a free bin for grass clippings over this coming weekend.
Corey, makes you wonder how serious the Council is about recycling. If they can’t get it right, how can we?
Corey, I have recorded before that Rochford DC have said that the recycling vehicle cannot access Salisbury Close. If Asda’s lorries can access your road why can’t the recycling vehicle? We now have a situation where the new system is delayed ‘indefinitely’, but one wonders if anyone at Rochford knows their left hand from their right!! Will we or won’t we ever get a recycling system? We, personally, do not need a ‘green waste’ collection as we have an allotment and all our waste goes into our compost but we are still going to be charged for this facility and we have been charged in our council tax for recycling when we do not have any at all. It costs us money to take all our recycling to the local collection point but Rochford DC will not acknowledge this in our payments. Why??
Hi Rita,
The ASDA lorries don’t access Temple Way, just Priory Chase, but I do see what you mean. However, the refuge lorry has no problem accessing Temple Way, neither does the industrial refuge collector who collects from the school! I certainly feel it’s like the council needs an excuse to not collect from every street, perhaps if it does a 100% collection now, it’ll set a precident for the future, and doesn’t want that!
I agree with you that we should see some reflection in our counil tax bill for services that we are being charged for and not getting.
I have a very small north facing garden, so don’t compost, so the green waste collection is a god-send, but what about the other services residents on this development are certainly not getting………
1. Temple Way – recycling collection
2. Policing – none existent, have nightly problem with rowdy teenagers (and younger), have called the police on numerous occasions, but it seems that they have no concept of proactive policing.
3. No street cleaning – perhaps RDC would like to investigate the litter problem around ASDA before the litter problem becomes a rat problem.
Whilst on my little rant – am also wondering how long it will be before there is an accident on the leisure centre round-about, it seems the users of the leisure centre are a little too lazy when it comes to driving out, and go the wrong way round the rounabout, I have so far had 4 near misses there. How long will it be before a child is injured or killed in Priory Chase? Car users speed along it, and children on bikes or skate boards use the roundabout as a “jump”.
I too was not surprised to hear that our new recycling arrangements have been postponed indefinitely. I felt they were a bit confusing, even for someone like me, who still has a few active “little grey cells” left!
Unfortunately not everyone has facilities for dealing with compostables, & not everyone can lug stuff up to the recycling centre. In the case of the latter, why do we only have one of these in the RDC area, & sited in Rayleigh? A long way from Great Wakering etc!
I am all in favour of recycling, & do my best to reduce my “carbon footprint” wherever reasonably possible. Those items not collected by our Council, i.e. plastics & cardboard, I bag up & take to my son & daughter-in-law’s in Eastwood for the benefit of Southend!
Come on Rochford, get your act together! It can’t be that difficult surely?
In praise of the new contractors Sita, at least they put our bins & boxes back where they found them. Not kicked wherever they land, like the last lot!