Three-weekly bin collections proposed

East Herts Council could introduce a three-week bin collection cycle for houses from 2025 when a new waste, recycling and streetcleaning contract is agreed.

In a recent public consultation. 45% of East Herts residents said their residual waste bin (excl. recycling) was half full or less at the time of the current fortnightly collection.

The provision of residual waste collections at flats will remain largely unchanged.

The new 3-weekly cycle would produce cost savings and reduce the council's carbon footprint.

The proposals are part of a package of new measures that could also see separate bins for fibre and the collection of plastic film, which is currently excluded from recycling. There could also be separate food waste collections.

Cllr Graham McAndrew, Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability, said: "I was greatly encouraged by the survey results, which clearly show residents want to help improve our recycling rate and reduce waste in East Herts.

"Our current collection contract ends in spring 2025, so we need to look at the service now to ensure we have explored all options to achieve value for money and increase levels of recycling.

"At the moment, a three-weekly general waste bin collection cycle is just a proposal, but we all need to do our bit for the planet which includes looking at our waste habits – reducing what we throw away, reusing items where possible and recycling as much as we can at the kerbside and elsewhere. Almost half of survey respondents said their black bin is less than half full, which combined with the results of our recent analysis and the addition of a food waste collection, gives us the confidence that residents could manage this change.

"If councillors agree our proposals, we know some households might need more support, such as those living in larger households, those with multiple children using disposable nappies or people with other special waste needs, and we will have measures in place to help them."

East Herts Council and North Herts Council entered into a Shared Service arrangement in 2017. The current contract covers the collection of waste and recycling from approximately 124,000 households and over 1920 commercial customers as well as street cleansing services across East and North Hertfordshire.

The new proposals will be discussed at next Tuesday's meeting of the council's Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Updated 20/9/22 to include comments by Cllr Graham McAndrew.