Press release

U-turn on fortnightly bin collections is astonishing waste of money

30 September 2011

Commenting on Department for Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles' decision to find £250million to help fund a return to weekly bin collections, Friends of the Earth's Waste Campaigner Julian Kirby said: 

"It's remarkable that Eric Pickles has found spare cash so easily just before the Conservative party conference - but a return to weekly bin collections is an astonishing waste of taxpayers' money and will have a disastrous impact on recycling.

"More than half of councils in England have taken up fortnightly collections - the Government's own advisors say they are not unhygienic if food waste is collected every week.

"A U-turn on recycling is hardly the action of the 'greenest government ever' that David Cameron promised - any available money would be better spent on increasing recycling, reducing waste, and helping councils to cut carbon."

ENDS

Notes to editors

1. Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles has made it a personal mission to get the Government to return to weekly bin collections, despite wide support for the cheaper and greener fortnightly alternative. Last year, he said: "it's a basic right for every English man and woman to be able to put the remnants of their chicken tikka masala in their bin without having to wait a fortnight for it to be collected." Friends of the Earth says there fortnightly collections are perfectly hygienic if food waste is collected weekly - when it should be treated with anaerobic digestion to create green energy.
2. A recent survey for Friends of the Earth found that 80 per cent of people think food waste bins are hassle free and a majority think that they should be rolled out by all councils.
3. England already has lower recycling ambitions than other parts of the UK. A return to weekly bin collections could reduce recycling in England by 5%.
4. Friends of the Earth says the Government's Waste Review showed an embarrassing lack of ambition. We're calling on the Government to work with businesses and councils to boost recycling and halve black bag waste in England by 2020.

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust