Green bin bags - Now Free!

[hels1977]

Its on the agenda but is being costed.

 

Oooh, what about plastic and glass recycling collections, are they on the agenda too?

[julado]

Whatever kind of rubbish it is, if it`s sealed in a black bin bag and put in the bin who is to know? I have never seen the bin men ripping open bin bags to see what is inside.

 

Sshhhh.....how long will it be before the council employ "bin police" to do just this :hihi:

[BeightonBabe]

Took 2 black bin liners full of clean washed plastics to tip and could no longer find the relevent container to put them in. When i enquired where it was, i was told to ' just tip it in there' and pointed to the general waste section! So glad i made the effort of wasting water and fuel! . . Guess where my plastics go now!

[crookesey]

Am I imagining things, didn't the Lib Dems say that they would be free if they took over?

 

I can fill 10 of these every time I venture onto the garden and that would mean three trips to the tip so £10.00 isn't that bad.

 

I did email my Lib Dem councellor Keith Hill for clarification but so far have not had a reply, as was the case when I wrote to my MP Nick Clegg on another matter. But what do you expect from politicians?

[Tony]

I don't know about that one crookesey, but a quick Google came up with this article in the Star. I hope that they find a way to sort it out.

 

£1 green bin bags spark Lib Dem fury

 

04 January 2008

By Richard Marsden

 

A DECISION to quadruple the price paid by Sheffield households for green sacks to recycle garden waste has been slammed by Liberal Democrat councillors who say the change will deter people from using the service.

Sheffield Council's waste contractor Veolia currently charges £1.50 for three sacks - and, at present, an offer means residents also get a further three bags free, so they cost just 25p each.

 

But, from Monday, the company is to charge £3 for three sacks - £1 each.

 

What do you think? Add your comment below.

 

Veolia has defended its decision saying it is the first price increase in seven years and that the service remains "heavily subsidised".

 

However Coun David Baker, Lib Dem deputy leader on Sheffield Council, said: "It's a huge rise and it will deter people from recycling. Obviously increases are inevitable but on this scale it is totally unacceptable."

 

He claimed the service is being operated as "a money-making exercise rather than encouraging recycling", adding the council's ruling Labour group is more interested in ensuring the incinerator operates efficiently.

 

A recent presentation by Sheffield Council's head of waste management Gillian Charters revealed the council does want to increase its recycling rate.

 

But it favours re-using ash from the incinerator for use in items such as breeze blocks, rather than operating more free kerbside collections for recyclables, because it would a bigger effect in terms of saving carbon.

 

Veolia claims its increased green sack price "will reflect a more realistic value in line with other local authority services and costs".

 

Martin Simpson, managing director of Veolia in Sheffield, said: "We have held the price of the green sack service for almost seven years.

 

"Although the price is changing, the service is still subsidised and offers good value for money with free collection.

 

"We would like to thank residents for their recycling efforts and value their continued support."

[prettygood]

Update:

 

From the council's website it looks like they are still a pound each, so this weekends weeding is going in the black bin.

 

Surely weeds shouldn't go in garden waste anyway? I have a home composting bin and the instructions for that are not to compost weeds. Assuming that Sheffield council uses garden waste to make municipal compost (you'd hope so), that'd mean that weeds should be placed in the black bins.

[Darbees]

I complained to the Council when the price went up and the reply I got was

" I can understand your frustration at having to pay more for your sacks.The Green Sack price has not increased (though Veolia are entitled to increase the cost annually by the rate of inflation) since their contract with us started in 2001- at £1.50 for 3. Veolia have further subsidised the service for the past three years by offering a Buy One Get One Free (BOGOF) promotion (i.e. 6 sacks for £1.50). Veolia have decided not continue to offer this subsidy to this service and also increase the price to the current rate permissible in the contract this year. We have expressed our disappointment with Veolia that they have chosen to do this- both the price increase and end of BOGOF offer at the same time, but they are quite within their rights to do so."

I use Veolia for my work bin since they took over Cleanaway a couple of years ago. I have to say that they are the most useless and inefficient organisation I have ever dealt with. One small example is that recently they sent me a letter saying that their charges went up in April, 2 months ago, they did the same last year. Getting them to empty the bin regularly and on the same day is very difficult.

[cgksheff]

...... Assuming that Sheffield council uses garden waste to make municipal compost (you'd hope so).........

 

I think that's a wrong assumption.

 

I'm fairly sure that it goes to the incinerator.

[crt23]

We have a green bin supplied to us that gets emptied twice a month by the refuse people!

[DIVA]

Sheffield seemed to pioneers a long time ago for recycling. How things have changed. Now we're flagging behind other MUCH smaller towns, that are getting more seperate collections for FREE. Come on Sheffield. We hardly seem deserving of our "green city" title, do we?