Cheshire East garden waste bin charge scheme starts in January

The environment and communities committee voted on Thursday to press ahead with the introduction in January of the controversial charge to empty garden waste bins.

But the decision has left the council with a major headache because, legally, local authorities can’t charge to collect food waste – and Cheshire East currently collects it with the garden waste.

Tom Shuttleworth, director of environment and neighbourhood services, said: “We recognise, with any service change, there’s always a period of adjustment which may see some food waste being placed in the garden waste bin.

"Where this is the case, we won’t be looking to take any sort of enforcement action with residents, we will be heavily educating [for home composting].”

When asked for clarification on just exactly what people should do with their food waste after January, he said: “If asked, the position will be, food waste needs to go into your black bin.”

The officer told the committee, the council had no alternative but to bring in the charge because it needed to raise £4m to fill a funding gap.

Cllr David Jefferay (Image: Cheshire East Council)

Wilmslow councillor David Jefferay (Ind) said: “It’s very much unpopular but I think it’s a decision that we have to make. We don’t have the luxury of saying let’s choose not to do this.”

But the Conservatives, who voted against it, asked if all alternative options had been explored.

Poynton councillor Hayley Whitaker (Con) said the council should have looked at reducing the green bin service over the winter months as this would have reduced costs.

“It’s unfortunate our current slogan’s around greener and that kind of thing, because it doesn’t look greener,” she said.

Cllr Stewart Gardiner (Image: Cheshire East Council)

Knutsford councillor Stewart Gardiner (Con) said: “People will put their food waste in their black bins, they will even, on occasion, be hiding their garden waste in their black bins, so there will be even more waste we’ve got to dispose of through the black bin process which will be more expensive.”

Cllr Janet Clowes (Wybunbury, Con) said the cost of dealing with black bin waste was three times as high as dealing with green waste.

“The reason we looked at producing our own green hub site [which processes garden and food waste] at Leighton Grange was to prevent us having to pay three other operators to do that work for us which was highly expensive, and we built in the free green bin waste collections on the back of those savings we would make,” she said.

“If we think about what it costs to transport additional black bin waste, we have to take on board the cost environmentally of haulage.”

Cllr Ashley Farrall (Image: Cheshire East Council)

Macclesfield councillor Ashley Farrall (Lab) who abstained from the vote, was concerned about the unused garden bins which would be left on streets and possibly set on fire.

Seven committee members voted for the subscription charge to go ahead from January and the five Conservatives voted against.

Speaking after the meeting – and stressing he was speaking on behalf of himself and not the council – leader Sam Corcoran told the LDRS: “I will be taking up the green waste bin subscription service and I intend to continue putting food waste into the green bin. I think this is an excellent service.

"I will also continue to home compost where space in my compost bin allows.”