A CONTROVERSIAL change to fortnightly rubbish collections throughout the whole area is set to get the go-ahead from Waverley Borough Council. At a special meeting on Monday, councillors added their support to a move to change the way rubbish is collected, in a bid to meet government recycling targets. If the measures are ratified by full council, alternate weekly rubbish collection for household waste and recyclable materials could begin from as early as next spring. And in another move that could prove to be unpopular with council tax payers, residents will be asked to fork out £45 each year if they want their garden waste removed on a fortnightly basis, or compost it themselves for nothing. In a report to a meeting of the environment and leisure overview and scrutiny committee, councillors agreed to the findings by a Special Interest Group, SIG, which was set the task of coming up with a scheme to improve the borough's existing recycling service. It aims to raise the current level from 22 per cent to meet government target of 36 per cent. An alternative weekly service would involve collecting household waste one week, and recyclable rubbish the next. Existing recycling containers would be used for glass, paper and cans with an an additional container being supplied for plastics. Agreeing to the proposals, chairman John Sandy said: "The experience in the rest of England in more than 100 authorities is that people are initially anxious about it. But when they get going and realise they are taking part in a recycling operation, they realise that their bin is probably less than half full. "The public anxiety will hopefully be defused by the education, guidance and encouragement that WBC will be giving people in order to extend the current practice", he added. And in a question-and-answer session, Tony Moore, the chairman of a neighbouring council's environment committee, brushed aside councillors' fears of smells and maggot infestations from the two-week storage of residual waste. Mr Moore, from Mole Valley District Council, which has successfully implemented alternate weekly collections, assured councillors that "if household waste like food is wrapped up in newspaper and sealed properly then it will not attract maggots or flies". David Harmer queried whether sufficient bin capacity will be available for larger families, and what alternative collection methods there would be for residents with special requirements, such as the elderly. In response, Mr Moore said that residents in Mole Valley were able to obtain additional storage facilities to suit their needs and that rubbish can be collected directly from properties in cases where residents were unable to leave their bins on the kerbside. Councillors debated five options for alternate weekly collections and eventually decided to opt for continuing the current kerbside sorting method of paper, tins, glass in existing containers with an additional container provided for plastics. Garden waste can also be collected on a fortnightly basis using disposable or reusable bags but clarification on the number and the size of these bags will be reviewed. The council is currently in negotiations with contractor Onyx to take over the collections of rubbish after being impressed by its recycling success in East Hampshire. The council hopes to make an overall annual saving on existing recycling costs, but Mr Sandy is keen to reassure residents that the council is putting their interests first. "At the forefront of our minds is the householder and our aim is to decrease the waste we throw away. This scheme will decrease it even further and we see 36 per cent as a minimum while we aspire to 50 per cent."