New Forest District Council confirms changes to its plan to overhaul waste collections following a change in government legislation

NEW Forest District Council has announced its plan to overhaul waste collections in a bid to boost recycling rates will now be in two phases following a change in government legislation.

Earlier this year the council confirmed its intention to introduce wheelie bins across the New Forest was to be pushed back by a year to 2025.

As reported in the A&T the district council had announced it would be moving from weekly collections of general waste and recycling in black and clear sacks in favour of mixed recycling and general waste collections on alternate weeks from 180-litre wheelie bins.

Residents would have also been issued with a separate 90-litre reusable sack for paper and card, plus caddies for food waste, collected weekly.

At a meeting of the council’s place and sustainability overview and scrutiny panel on Wednesday, members heard that Defra had announced all local authorities in England can now collect the same recyclable waste.

This was at odds with the council’s plan for a twin stream collection, with metal, glass and plastic collected in one container, and paper and card in another.

Hampshire County Council is currently building a new Materials Recovery Facility, to process the additional items that need to be collected under government guidelines, such as aluminium foil, food trays, plastic pots, plastic film and cartons for food and drink.

The meeting heard the government’s announcement would mean a review of the twin stream recycling plan. If a redesign of the facility was needed, this would mean it would not become operational until 2026.

To enable the council to press ahead with its plan to introduce the new waste strategy in 2025, it plans to provide residents with a 240l wheelie bin for all items it currently can recycle, which includes paper, card, plastic and metal, which would be collected fortnightly.

A 55-litre box for glass would be collected monthly.

A report to members explained: “This approach give us ability to flex and adapt in future, and move to either twin stream or fully co-mingled, depending on the eventual outcomes of further work.”

Speaking after the meeting, the council’s cabinet member for environment and sustainability, Cllr Geoffrey Blunden, said: "After reviewing the government’s update, we are proposing to introduce changes in two phases.

“We are still aiming to introduce most of our planned service change from May 2025. This will include weekly food waste collections using caddies, and alternate week collections for waste and recycling using wheeled bins.

“The government’s update affects other local authorities [including] Hampshire County Council, who are responsible for disposing of waste in the county.

“We will be working with them to understand how this impacts the timeline for new recycling sorting facilities in Hampshire and how we can deliver the second phase of our service change.

“We are keen to confirm and get moving with our plans as soon as possible, but as things develop it is important that we are flexible and adapt our plans when needed.

“We also need to consider the financial impacts and extent of government funding to support our service change.

“Our aim remains to reduce waste, increase recycling, and provide an improved service for our residents.”

The proposed changes will be discussed further at a meeting of the council’s cabinet on 6th December before a final decision is made.