- 61% of respondents agree that wheelie bins will help to reduce the number of vermin in their neighbourhood (25% disagree and 14% didn't know)
- 58% agree wheelie bins will reduce the amount of rubbish spilt onto the street (31% disagree, 11% unsure)
- 51% think wheelie bins will improve the cleanliness of their neighbourhood (35% disagreed and 14% didn't know)
- 50% think wheelie bins will be good for the city (36% disagree and 14% are unsure)
That seems very reassuring - especially when you remember that apart from a few streets in Selly Oak, wheelie bins aren't even in use. A 2011 survey for YouGov found 77% support for wheelie bins nationally, with just 10% of respondents opposed to them.
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I think everybody appreciates that change - especially a change on this scale - makes some people worry. It isn't helped by some scaremongering from the opposition parties, warning people that they will face charges of £90 a month to clean their bins (they won't). There are bound to be problems with the switchover, but at least we have the chance to learn from the experience of the 82% of councils that have already made the switch and we'll have the experience from Brandwood and Harborne to build a Birmingham perspective on transforming our waste collection service.
We've also got the figures from those wards on property suitability - 96.7% of low-rise homes in Brandwood and 91.9% of low-rise properties in Harborne have been initially assessed as suitable. Of the 16,000 properties identified as suitable for wheelie bins across both wards, only about 100 have challenged their assessment as suitable and there have also been some challenges raised by householders originally deemed unsuitable for wheelie bins. The assessment considers each property and if it has steep steps or slopes to the roadside, no storage space for wheelie bins or poor access for the wagons, then they will be deemed unsuitable for wheelie bins and red carded. They will continue to get the black bag service. I suspect that there will be wards that will have a higher number of unsuitable properties than either of these two and we've got to handle the switch sensitively. I'll certainly be making sure that properties are correctly assessed in Acocks Green and supporting residents who have been wrongly identified - but we're still a way away from that.
Meanwhile, figures show that the government's changes to benefits will take over £9 million out of the Birmingham economy thanks to the bedroom tax alone.
4 comments:
This is an analysis of the questions asked. It reminds me slightly of an old maxim I was taught at school in the 70s about using computers: 'Garbage in - Garbage out' The entire questionnaire is based around the large wheelie bins which have already been ordered by the Birmingham City Council. It makes no reference whatsoever to alternative waste collection and recycling systems like sealed food waste boxes.
Food waste remains something that I will keep pushing for - and Cllr McKay, the Cabinet member responsible, is also supportive. The problem is cost. The figures to run a food waste collection indicate an annual cost of £4 to £7 million a year on top of the current costs. As keeping what we have now is likely to cost an additional £8 million every year by the end of the decade, change to a more modern, cleaner and more effective system for residual and dry recyclate is the first step on the way. Food waste wouldn't be an appropriate addition to the current system - we need to get what we have fit for purpose first. Thanks for commenting - do keep in touch. I honestly value all views.
It depends on what kind of food waste collection you use. Elsewhere on this site you refer to the Nottingham experience, where the food waste system was scrapped. However, Nottingham were sending their food waste to be composted in Norfolk!!
On the other hand, the Somerset Waste partnership has a long-standing successful kerbside food waste collection scheme where they find that every ton of food waste collected recycled saves £25.00 per ton.
http://www.somersetwaste.gov.uk/about/costs/
What has happened to the previously vaunted link between Birmingham City Council and Aston University who have been developing an anaerobic food waste digestion system for some time.
http://birminghamnewsroom.com/2011/11/city-part-of-global-contest-to-improve-lives/
However, the new system being introduced is costing a staggering amount of money. There is already reluctance to make small changes (eg to sizes of bins already ordered as noted at the April 2013 Acocks Green Ward Meeting, and how easy is it going to be after this is set in to change to any other system at all?
The key word in the Somerset example is "saves". That is the cost saving compared to landfill cost (£72 a tonne and climbing annually). We only landfill about 8% of Birmingham's waste and that is simply the materials that can't be recycled or recovered through the Tyseley energy from waste plant. The Somerset costs indicate a per tonne 'gate fee' of about £47, which is close to the figure quoted by Wolverhampton in their food waste scheme of about £50 per tonne. That's still more than the costs of Tyseley, so my point about food waste being a cost for Birmingham holds. It would be a saving for authorities that landfill their waste, however.
Much of the new investment in the system would be required anyway - the vehicles are worn out and the depots need about £10 million spent to bring them up to current standards regardless. I have asked the Cabinet Member to consider small bins, but it is quite likely that adding another bin size to the mix would increase costs still further.
A food waste collection system would probably require another bin in any case, unless we were to consider commingling green waste - which is a possibility. I'm not aware of any food waste collection that doesn't use wheeled bins as the residual collection system. Changes can be made - as I pointed out on Wednesday, Bristol are just changing down the size of their bins.
Somerset Waste also charge for green waste - £45 a year for bins, which is more than we plan to charge from next year. They also recommend home composting as the best environmental option, just as we do.
There is certainly nothing stopping further improvements - this is getting us fit for the present with a jumping off point for the future.
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