Have your say on wheelie bin plan for the New Forest

New Forest District Council is one of the last authorities in the country to still use single use plastic bags for general waste and recycling, handing out 10 million a year!

It also uses reusable bags for garden waste and box for a four week glass collection.

But this is set to change in the future with a big overhaul of the waste collection service.

WHAT CHANGES COULD NEW FOREST RESIDENTS SEE?

The new waste strategy proposes giving households two wheelie bins, one for general waste and one for recyclable waste including glass.

More recyclable plastic items would be included like pots, tubs and trays whilst paper and card would go in a separate reusable hessian type bag.

An alternate weekly service would be introduced where general waste is collected one week and recycling the other.

The plans also include a new weekly food waste collection service and a fortnightly chargeable wheelie bin for garden waste which residents would sign up to if they wanted.

WHY ARE THE CHANGES NEEDED?

New Forest District Council needs to improve its recycling rate.

It currently recycles 34% of rubbish which is well below the national average of 44% and "significantly lower" than the national target of 55% by 2025.

In 2018/19 NFDC's performance was ranked 286th out of 345 councils in England.

The Environment Bill released in January also states that council will be required to provide weekly food waste collections by 2023.

Currently 40% of black bag waste in the New Forest District Council is food waste.

Supporters also say having wheelie bins will be safer for those homes living within the National Park boundary where the current sack service can have "an adverse effect on livestock and wildlife."

CONCERNS

Some residents are worried that gravel driveways, cattle grids and rural properties in private lanes will make wheelie bins impractical.

There are also concerns about the storage of the bins at homes and how elderly residents in the district will manage with them , however officials have estimated that 92% of homes would be suitable.

HAVE YOUR SAY

A four week consultation has begun today (12th November) until the 10th of December.

Cllr Alison Hoare, NFDC's portfolio holder for environment, said;

"To see how this new way of doing things will work, we are now asking the public to read our proposals and answer our resident engagement survey. We want to know what barriers residents think there are to introducing this new service so that we can shape the system to work well for the area. We understand that change can be difficult so we want to hear how we can get this right for our communities. "

"And we want to hear from people who are keen to see recycling rates increase and have comments that are in support of change. Although the 'headline' is wheelie bins, there's so much more to it. This could never be a simple yes or no to wheelie bins - the bins are just the how, but the why is the important part; our overall aim in this is to care for the environment."

"Our role of taking away the rubbish, is just one part of the jigsaw. Everyone - individuals, households, manufacturers, retailers - needs to play their part in reducing, reusing, and recycling, and I urge anyone that cares about the environment to read what we are working on so they are then able to give us their informed comments, good and bad."

A comment form will be available on the Council's website www.newforest.gov.uk.

For people who are unable to access the website, printed packs containing the draft waste strategy summary, a resident comment form and pre-paid envelope, are available by contacting our customer services 023 8028 5000

Changes to the waste and recycling collection service are expected no earlier than 2022.