Home > Campaigning > Campaigning for Cambridge > Recycling
Recycling
The Labour Government set statutory recycling and composting targets for local authorities for the first time ever.
Recycling in England is at record levels. In 1996/7 it was 7.5% and by 2003/4 it was 17% - on course for our 25% target for 2005/6.
Two thirds of households are now served by a doorstep recycling service.
Labour increased the landfill tax to incentivise a move away from landfill.
However, in Cambridge the Lib Dem controlled City Council are failing to meet Government targets.
My post bag and email inbox is very worrying at present - with lots of you telling me about the problems you are having getting access to recycling collections. Service is very patchy with lots of people having no green bins or black boxes, and others of you regularly missing out on collections. Please let me know what is happening in your area - we need to increase our recycling - and getting the City Council to sort this out would really help.
I recently carried out a survey with Cambridge residents to find out what people thought about the current rubbish collection and recycling services we have here in Cambridge. The proposed change from weekly to fortnightly bin collections has caused a lot of concern locally. Whilst I can see the undoubted recycling benefits in switching to fortnightly collections, I also recognise that a one size fits all approach does not always work. I was disappointed that the City Council's survey on the issue did not give the public the right to state their preference one way or the other.
My survey aimed to gauge views on bin collection, recycling and the environment, and identify options available to Cambridge City Council to increase recycling levels in the city. As a result of an early analysis of the results, I called on the City Council to introduce kerbside plastics collection. Collection of some types of plastic bottles only is now planned for introduction in autumn 2005. However, I am concerned about the very high cost of the scheme that the City Council has proposed, and believe that they should find a cheaper way to recycle plastic.
The survey was conducted between October and November 2004, and 652 local Cambridge residents responded. Key results from the survery show that:
- Over 70% of residents want to keep weekly black bin collections
- Over 90% of residents thought that the current performance of black bin/green box and black bin/bag collections was good or OK
- Over 80% of respondents thought that local litter bin services were not good
- Nearly 80% of respondents thought that street cleaning services were not good
It is clear that the Council needs to address underperformance in current recycling delivery and promotion before implementing major changes to the scheme. I am now calling for the City Council to:
- Recognise that people in different wards and housing types require a different mix of collection containers and frequencies
- Extend the scope of current recycling services to cover the whole city
- Address the areas of poor performance where service inefficiencies mean residents are unable to contribute to recycling
- Put forward new arrangements for people with small gardens and no outside container storage; people in shared housing; and people living in flats/masionettes
You can download the summary of my findings - 'Bin Collection, Recycling and the Environment' here.
There is a national campaign for residents who wish to express their concerns about reducing the frequency of waste collection. You can find out more about the campaign on the Weekly Waste website.