A RADICAL shake-up of Waverley's rubbish collection has been rubber stamped, which will force residents to recycle from next year. However, controversy surrounds the council's plan for collecting garden waste which will see participating residents charged £40 a year. Starting in the spring, alternate weekly collections (AWC) will be implemented, which will see recyclables collected one week and residual waste the following week. At present, only 21 per cent of the borough's rubbish is recycled and only half of Waverley's households take part in the existing recycling scheme. The current system sees homes issued with a lidded box to store newspapers, paper and cans, and a basket for glass. Under the new AWC system, agreed by Waverley Borough Council on Tuesday, a third box will be sent to all households to collect recyclable plastics. The 14-day wait between "traditional" rubbish collections will force residents to sort out their rubbish and recycle to cope instead of merely throwing everything in the bin. The council's portfolio holder for the environment Victor Scrivens said that it was "absolutely crucial" that the borough's residents reduce the amount of rubbish being sent to landfill. He told the meeting that because residents separated their recyclables it ensured that only the correct items were sent for recycling. However the problem is that not enough people bother to do it so a radical new approach is needed to spur them into action. "It is a high-quality system. The only problem is that it is not used by enough people," he said. "This gives us the chance to leapfrog from where we are to where we want to be." James Mackie said that he initially had reservations about the scheme but had been won over. "It is clear that unless we have alternate weekly collections that recycling is optional when in fact it is necessary," he said. The plan was unanimously agreed but councillors expressed some concerns. Carole Cockburn was worried about residents finding the space for a 240 litre rubbish bin and for three recyclables containers and the effects of cluttering up the street scene. However, councillors heard that a team of officers would be employed to help residents cope and look into their individual circumstances to help them find space for the extra container. • A dedicated enquiry line has been set up for calls about the new refuse collection scheme which can be contacted on 01483 523503.
