£1.5 Million from Defra - Cheaper Garden Waste Bins on the Way

1 June, 2004

North Norfolk District Council has won nearly £1.5 million from the Government to help bring new rubbish, recycling and garden waste collection arrangements into the District.

The award, from the Waste Minimisation and Recycling Fund run by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), means NNDC will offer wheeled garden waste bins to many more people than had previously been thought, and for a much lower annual fee.

However, the funding means that no new orders for brown garden waste bins can be now taken, while a new system for marketing, processing orders for, and delivering a vastly increased number of brown bins is devised. It also means that District-wide collection of garden waste using the new bins will not now begin until 2005.

So far, about 2250 homes across North Norfolk have ordered the brown bins for a charge of £30 a year, and most of those bins have been delivered. Those outstanding deliveries will still be made, and those people who already have brown bins will be able to use them to dispose of their garden waste.

NNDC has pledged that no one who has already paid for a garden waste bin will be disadvantaged because of it in the future. The Council will be writing to these people shortly, to explain the options on offer to them for getting garden waste collected.

The current systems of home composting, taking garden waste to household waste recycling centres, or using pre-paid plastic sacks for garden waste will continue for all other people until the brown bin collection starts next year.

Defra's award of £1.49 million will be used to pay for all the new garden waste bins and it will contribute to the cost of District's new Twin Bins system for household waste and recycling.

Householders will be invited again to opt into the garden waste collection scheme later in the year, and the roll-out of brown bins across the District will start again in a properly co-ordinated fashion once NNDC knows how many people want them.

The annual charge for a brown waste bin from next year, and the arrangements made to accommodate those people who have already paid, will be announced as soon as possible.

Garden waste collected by NNDC goes for composting by Norfolk Environmental Waste Services, and that compost can be bought at the Norfolk's household waste recycling centres.

Mark Birch, NNDC's Cabinet Member for Waste, said: "It is ironic, I know, that this money from Defra means we have to put things back. But the award is great news, and means we can offer a much wider and more effective scheme than we had expected. But that will take a great deal of organising.

"The long-term benefits to the District are clear. We stand a much better chance of meeting the tough new targets for household waste recycling imposed upon us by the Government. We can do much, much more to stop this 'green' compostable waste going into landfill when it doesn't have to. Landfill is a very expensive way of disposing of rubbish, and it spoils our beautiful countryside."

NNDC's Head of Environmental Health, Nick Baker, said: "It is a shame that this grant came in just after we started a new contract for waste collection, as we had expected to hear in January whether Defra would award us any money. We had put bids in to the National Waste Minimisation and Recycling Fund twice before and were not successful, so there were no guarantees we would be this time.

"In the meantime, of course, we had to let the new contract and moved forward with new arrangements. We do regret any inconvenience this causes people over the next few months, but we will have a much better garden waste service in the end, thanks to this grant."

ENDS

NOTES FOR EDITOR

• NNDC must recycle 36% of household waste in 2005/06, according to Government targets, possibly rising higher in the future - some of the toughest targets in the country. This compares to NNDC's 2003/04 target of just 17.21%.
• In 2003/04, the cost of disposing of North Norfolk's 33,223 tonnes of waste in landfill was more than £1.25 million.
• For details of Defra's Waste Minimisation and Recycling Fund, start at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2003/031020b.htm
• NNDC has teamed up with Blackwall to offer cut-price home composters to North Norfolk people. Call 0870 849 4857 to order a 226-litre bin for £9.50 or a 330-litre bin for £13.95, plus £4 delivery (or buy direct from Fakenham Garden Centre at Hempton or North Walsham Garden Centre in Norwich Road, North Walsham).