New development in "Rubbish Wars"

16/10/2007

Despite continuing rises in Council Tax payments, householders in certain areas of Hertfordshire are facing extra charges if they put out more than one sack of rubbish each week under a new six-month pilot scheme. The move, instigated by Broxbourne Council, is designed to encourage more recycling, but instead it is raising blood pressures amongst local residents - many of whom have protested the development.

Householders will be provided with 26 specially colour-coded bin bags a year - one for each week - and for the duration of the trial, refuse collectors will only pick up rubbish left in the "official" bin bags. Any rubbish left out for collection in ordinary black bin bags will not be picked up. However, if they want to leave more than one bin bag of rubbish per week, they can buy extra bags for 28p.

The scheme will run from November 8 in the Goffs Oak and Rye Park areas. Householders are being given four weeks to get used to the new regime, but after the fifth collection, residents who continue to put out their rubbish in black sacks will risk enforcement action. On its website the council said it hopes to reduce the rubbish put out by each household by 1.5kg per week and increase recycling by the same amount. And if the pilot is successful the scheme may be rolled out throughout the rest of the borough.

This latest idea has arisen after the Council was criticised for switching to "alternate" collections, in which rubbish is picked up on a fortnightly basis alternating with recycling collections.