Press release

Increase in fortnightly bin collections welcomed

11 April 2011

Welcoming the news that councils are increasingly turning to fortnightly bin collections, Friends of the Earth's Waste Campaigner Julian Kirby said:

"Councils deserve praise for ignoring central government diktat on weekly bin collections - if Eric Pickles is talking about waste you can bet your bin he's talking rubbish.

"Reverting to weekly black bag bin collections could cost cash-strapped councils more than half a billion pounds and see England's recycling rate plummet - hardly the actions of the 'greenest government ever' on an austerity drive.

"The Government should be working with businesses and councils to boost recycling and halve black bag waste by 2020, rather than making the problem worse."

ENDS

Notes to editors

1. Daily Telegraph: Half of country denied weekly rubbish collections:
2. ENDS: Government's own research shows that scrapping fortnightly collections will increase costs and English recycling could be cut by five percentage points.

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust