MEMBERS of Cheshire West and Chester Council (CWaC) have approved plans for the future waste management strategy for west Cheshire – including Frodsham.
The move means that the council can now progress with its plans to transform the way waste and recycling services in the borough are delivered.
The new model will support residents in reducing the amount of household waste the borough produces and give people more capacity to recycle.
It will help the borough to respond to the challenges of climate change through waste reduction and by cutting carbon dioxide emissions.
The council will work alongside its waste and recycling partner Cheshire West Recycling to deliver a range of innovative new measures. These will be designed to encourage community recycling and tackle litter.
The plans also reaffirm the council’s commitment to continue its good performance in diverting as much waste as possible from costly disposal in landfill sites.
Also, the Council will continue to explore opportunities to use energy from waste and emerging technology to further reduce costly waste processing and treatment.
The strategy will also review the borough’s household waste recycling centres, looking at their locations, access and opening times.
This of course includes the problematic Frodsham centre at its generally accepted unsuitable site near Frodsham railway station.
The council’s fleet of refuse collection vehicles will be updated to make it more efficient and cost-effective. This will include options for new energy-efficient and electric vehicles.
There will be an ongoing education campaign to encourage people to reuse and recycle more.
The current system of kerbside sorting of waste and recycling will be replaced. The new service will respond to residents’ concerns by removing the existing boxes that some people find difficult to carry and are easily damaged.
The key changes include:
•Household waste will be collected fortnightly using a 180 litre wheeled bin (as per the current arrangement).
•Two larger capacity recycling bins on wheels, which will be collected fortnightly to replace existing 55-litre boxes.
•Food collections weekly using existing small food bin (as per the current arrangement).
•People will be supported with special arrangements if their housing circumstances make it more difficult to accommodate larger bins.
•A chargeable garden waste collection service to be provided over 40 weeks of the year, covering the growing season between March and November. Residents would be able to opt into this service or make their own arrangements.
•The garden waste collections to continue fortnightly, in line with the frequency of the proposed kerbside collection service
•There would be a charge of £40 per year per container for garden waste collections. This equates to £2 per collection and is in line with the current additional capacity charge.
•The changes to the services would reduce carbon emissions by 220,000kg a year. This supports the council’s ambition of making west Cheshire a carbon-neutral borough by 2045.
The changes will be introduced next year, with the charge for garden waste starting from March.
Deputy leader of the council, Cllr Karen Shore (pictured) said: “We can now move forward and start to make the changes.
“We know that people in our borough feel strongly about waste reduction and recycling and we would like to thank everyone who has taken an active role in shaping our new strategy. It represents the best option for the future of our borough if we are to meet our climate change commitments.
“Given the financial pressures the council faces, we have had to make some tough decisions if we are to continue to provide those services people in our borough rely upon.
“We now need to work together as a community to embrace the changes the new strategy suggests and safeguard the future of our borough.
“We have consulted with our residents throughout this process and we will keep this conversation going as we move towards implementing the new strategy.”
Frodsham ward councillors have condemned the garden waste charge as a “green bin tax” which they say is causing great concern among residents.
Cllr Chris Basey said: “This is extremely frustrating. Residents have seen their council tax rise by 30% in five years. They are already paying more to this Council, but I get asked time and again what is the money being spent on and why do services seem to be getting worse and worse. Now CWaC wants another £40 for something everyone agrees they are already paying for.
I thank the people of Frodsham who signed our petition and voiced their opposition. Unfortunately the Labour Council just didn’t listen to us, or their residents and were supported by the Green Councillor for Helsby, who has voted with them on every single motion since being elected in 2019. So this really is Labour’s Green Stealth Tax.”
I don’t have garden and only use my green bin for dead flowers bought in the supermarket. How do I justify £2 per collection for a handful of flowers?
Thanks for the update.
I will not be paying the green bin tax, but I will save CWAC money by not requiring the new wheely bins for recycling the llittle quantity I have of waste plastics and metals.
Just the black bi nfor me then, I suppose.
What on earth does all this have to do with climate change, as they declare? Nothing, indeed noxious emissions are likely to increase in view of CWAC’s intention to further “explore opportunities to use energy from waste”.
As for “the problematic Frodsham centre” it is noted that their provisions present little hope that such problems that exist will be alleviated.
CWAC it seems really do subscribe to the theory of the more you pay the less you get.