Newham Council cuts: recycling collections move to once a fortnight

Recycling bin collections are being reduced to a fortnightly service in an effort to save Newham Council around �400,000.

The borough-wide proposal was approved by cabinet at Newham Town Hall on Thursday evening and it is expected to effect around 60,000 properties who currently use orange-topped wheelie bins to dispose of recyclable waste such as cans, plastic, or cardboard.

Reducing collections has resulted in the deletion of 14 driver and operative posts and one redundancy, expected to save �399,000, while fuel savings come in at �40,000, and the council estimate they will spend �20,000 less than usual tackling increased recycling at Christmas.

A report stated: “Environmental Services are seeing to make efficiency savings in the operation of household waste collection services.

“The service recently implemented and reviewed a pilot scheme across two recycling rounds in the borough which highlighted the capacity for a fortnightly recycling collection across the borough.”

At the cabinet meeting, Newham Mayor Sir Robin Wales was at pains to emphasise that he does not intend to move non-recyclable waste to a fornightly collection.

A Newham Council spokesperson said: “We have taken one of the biggest central government grant cuts of any council in the country. This has forced us to take some tough decisions.

“We are doing everything we possibly can to protect front-line services and prioritise our residents’ needs.”

The council is urging residents not to overfill bins or store recyclable material in their home and create potential fire hazards.

All flats and properties still on the orange bag scheme will remain on a weekly collection.