AS residents in some of Bordon villages are gearing up to switch to EHDCÕs alternate weekly collection of refuse and recycling, the council has announced that it is well on its way to meeting the governmentÕs target for 2005.
Although there were a few initial hiccups when the new waste collection scheme was launched in May this year, including bins not being delivered and collected, the district council is confident that the project has worked Òreasonably wellÓ.
At TuesdayÕs meeting of EHDCÕs north east area community committee, waste reduction officer Sarah Incher thanked residents for persevering with the scheme.
ÒAs far as we are concerned the work we have done by talking to residents and telephoning residents is going reasonably well,Ó she said.
ÒWe have not had any major problems with the scheme. But we did have some issues with a number of bins not being delivered.Ó
But Mrs Incher apologised for the delay and assured those residents that the bins would be on their doorsteps the next day.
And the other half of the district Ð including Hawkley, Kingsley, Selborne and parts of Blackmoor and Greatham Ð should have already got, or soon be getting, their bins ready to start the waste collection scheme in the week beginning Monday October 28.
Initial figures show that in the first three months of the scheme the districtÕs recycling rate has shot up by nearly 10 per cent.
ÒIn April we had a recycling rate of 14.3 per cent in the district,Ó said Mrs Incher.
ÒBy August it was 24.1 per cent which means that we have achieved the target that we needed to achieve by next year. That is without going to the other side of the district.
ÒWe believe we are on target to reach the 35 per cent that we have to reach in 2005. Residents need to be congratulated for this.Ó
And a garden waste collection scheme, which residents have to pay a flat rate of £12 per year for, except those on housing benefit or council tax relief which are entitled to one free sack per year, is also proving successful.
ÒWe have quite a low take-up (on garden waste),Ó said Mrs Incher.
ÒWe do need to improve that.Ó
And she assured residents that all garden waste, collected in special reusable green bags, was composted.
But a resident of Malt House Court in Liphook told the committee that she had a reusable green bag and despite leaving it out to be collected once a fortnight she had only had it emptied three times out of a possible nine.
ÒOriginally I was the only one (in Malt House Court) that had one,Ó she said.
And she said she had called the waste reduction team, who she said had been very helpful, on a number of occasions to inform them of her problem.
ÒIt seems here that they are despondent by the number of people who have taken up green bags but they canÕt collect what is there now,Ó she added.
ÒThey must know where they have got to collect.Ó
Mrs Incher apologised for the failure to collect the residentÕs green bag and said she would look into the problem and make sure it was collected in future.
Despite the districtÕs recycling rate shooting up some residents are still not happy with having their household waste collected only once a fortnight.
And around 20 residents attended the committee meeting in Liphook Village Hall to quiz officers on the scheme.
A Òhealth riskÓ and ÒunhygienicÓ were just some of the words used to describe the scheme.
One Liphook resident said that he had experienced flies and maggots in his bin since the alternate weekly collection system came in.
And he called on the district council to start collecting household waste weekly again.
ÒThe obvious solution is to collect the damn things once a week,Ó he said.
But Mrs Incher said that the district council was still offering a weekly collection service.
ÒWe are just asking you to sort out your waste,Ó she said.
ÒWe are still giving you a weekly collection. Household domestic waste is collected one week and recyclable waste the next week.Ó
Mrs Incher also reported that the councilÕs waste reduction team had only recorded 13 complaints relating to maggots and flies since the scheme started.
ÒWe have addressed all of those as much as we can,Ó she said.
ÒSome people were not wrapping their food before putting it in their bins. One was a serious matter but that has now been cleared. Flies and maggots will happen no matter how long waste has been sitting around.
ÒThe point is to keep bin lids closed and wrap food. 13 out of 19,000 properties I think is quite a minimal amount.Ó
Yvonne Parker-Smith (Lindford) praised the scheme.
ÒAlthough my children no longer live with me, my dog produces a lot of waste which unfortunately is not recyclable,Ó she said.
ÒI do place it in my dustbin. I have never had a problem with flies and maggots. That is the sort of thing that would be vulnerable. It is all double wrapped.Ó
A number of residents complained that one bin was simply not enough for families of four and above.
ÒIn a large family we just cannot cope going two weeks with a green wheelie bin,Ó said one resident.
ÒI think the whole thing has been handled very badly. I do think it is a health risk.Ó
Although the district council currently offers two bins to families of six and above Mrs Incher said she was planning to put a recommendation to the councilÕs cabinet that an extra bin was also offered to smaller families, such as those with four or five members.
Anyone who has any problems with the scheme or wants more information about recycling, waste reduction or composting should contact the waste reduction team on 01730 234288 or e-mail [email protected]">[email protected]