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Top Tories tell Reading's Conservatives "you're wrong"
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A study published this week by the Conservative-controlled Local Government Association shows conclusively that those councils that have moved to an alternate weekly bin collection have achieved the highest recycling rates in the country.
For councils that have opted not to undertake alternate weekly collection, an average of 23 per cent of household waste is recycled or composted. All ten of the councils with the highest recycling rates in the country have adopted alternate weekly collection and eight out of ten of the councils with the most improved recycling rates also use alternate weekly collection. If this recycling rate was replicated across the country, the council taxpayer would save around £22million every year in taxes on landfill and cut landfill by 1.2million tonnes. Reading’s Tories have proposed a return to weekly bin collections which the Reading Borough Council’s Environment Scrutiny Panel was told would cost council taxpayers in excess of £1 million, in extra crews and landfill tax, as recycling rates reduced. Conservative Councillor Paul Bettison – Leader of Bracknell Council went even further telling the BBC: "If you wanted us to collect both bins each week that would mean doubling the number of collections and that would add approximately £100 a year to your council tax. There may be people who wouldn't want to pay that." 1 Cllr Bettison, who is also Chairman of the Local Government Association's Environment Board, added: "Local authorities are using every tool in their arsenal to make sure that council tax is kept down and the environment is protected. Alternate week collection is one of those tools. It is proven to increase the amount of recycling achieved and reduce the level of waste sent to landfill" 2 Chairman of the Local Government Association, and former Conservative Leader of Kent County Council, Sandy Bruce Lockhart, said: "Britain is the dustbin of Europe with more rubbish being thrown into landfill than any other country on the continent. For decades people have been used to being able to throw their rubbish away without worrying about environmental consequences or rising costs. Those days are now over. The move by some to alternate weekly bin collections is aimed at working with residents to reduce waste, increase recycling and slowing rising costs from EU legislation and higher landfill tax. There needs to be an urgent and radical overhaul of the way in which rubbish is thrown away. Local people, businesses and councils all have a vital role to play to protect our countryside before it becomes buried in a mountain of rubbish. A town the size of Warwick is already being used to dump Britain’s rubbish and unless the ways of people and business change then it is estimated we will run out of landfill space in less than nine years. Reducing waste will also help cut carbon emissions that contribute to climate change.” The Leader of Reading Borough Council, David Sutton, said; “These figures are truly impressive and show that where councillors whether Conservative, Labour or Liberal have had the courage to take bold but necessary decisions to tackle landfill dumping and drive up recycling rates, real results have been achieved which benefit the environment.” Reading West MP, Martin Salter, added: “To have the leading local government Tory endorsing the actions of Reading Borough Council and other local authorities who are paying more than just lip service to the environment is a real poke in the eye for the Reading Tory group who have been shamelessly opportunistic in their approach to this important subject. "Pretending that blue is the new green won’t really wash when all they are doing is crying crocodile tears over climate change and refusing to back sensible and practical measures that have been shown to work the length and breadth of the country.“ Reading Borough Council Environment Boss, Steve Waite added; “I am proud that whilst Reading is not yet in the top ten of councils with the highest recycling rates; the change to alternate weekly collection that we introduced last October has already made a massive difference to the percentage of the town’s waste diverted from landfill sites. "If Reading’s Tories want to reintroduce weekly collections as their leaflets have promised they need to be honest with the public about the damage this would do to our recycling rates and the rise in council tax bills that would follow to pay for the extra cost of vehicles, crews and increased landfill tax. This figure would be in excess of £30 a year per household and possibly much higher.” 26/04/07 |
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