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14-day bin pick-up for every house

From the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, first published Tuesday 30th Mar 2004.

EVERY house in Blackburn and Darwen is set to be included in a controversial recycling scheme after a 12 month trial-run in the borough.

Green recycling boxes will be handed out to homes in both towns, where non-recyclable waste will now only be collected once every two weeks.

The scheme was first launched in April last year when 12,000 homes were asked to separate recyclable rubbish from household waste for alternate fortnightly collections.

Now it is to be rolled out to a further 46,000 households across Blackburn and Darwen.

When the programme was introduced, some residents claimed the recycling rules were unworkable and said leaving rubbish outside their homes for two weeks was unhygienic.

In a bid to ease some of the problems, council officers visited homes to give advice on how to pack recycling boxes, which some people claimed were too small. Opposition councillors have also criticised the service.

Now, in a bid to improve things further, the council is set to double the number of collections for recyclable wastes, so that by the middle of May everyone will have cans, bottles and newspapers taken from outside their homes once a week.

Non-recyclable rubbish will still be picked up once every two weeks.

Coun Andy Kay, Blackburn with Darwen's executive member for regeneration, said recycling was needed to keep council tax bills down.

He said: "The council has saved almost £76,000 since the scheme was introduced.

"We are fairly lucky to have the landfill site at Whinney Hill in Hyndburn, which means Blackburn with Darwen's waste gets dumped in another borough, but it costs."

Coun Kay also dismissed residents' complaints about the recycling scheme.

He added: "We have had the odd person who does not think it is their responsibility to recycle and the odd bin has been missed during collections, but they have been the only complaints."

However, Coun Colin Rigby, Conservative leader called on the council to re-think its plan.

He said: "The collection service is proving ineffective and it is giving people a poor service.

"It's also a health hazard and I don't think we should be doing it. I honestly believe it is a problem and that it needs looking at again."

Despite complaints from residents, council bosses are understood to be pleased with the new collection service which has seen 5,549 tonnes of rubbish recycled since its launch 12 months ago.

The first phase included homes in Hoddlesden, Marsh House, Spring Vale, Garden Village plus Jack's Key estate in Darwen and Feniscowles, Heys Lane, Ewood, Beardwood, Four Lane Ends and Pleckgate, Buncer Lane, Brownhill and Sunnybower in Blackburn.

From April every other part of the Blackburn with Darwen, including Audley, Bastwell, Corporation Park, East Rural, Higher Croft, Little Harwood, Whitebirk, Livesey, Pleasington, Meadowhead, Mill Hill, North Turton, Tockholes, Queen's Park, Roe Lee, Shadsworth, Shear Brow, Sudell, Sunnyhurst, Wensley Fold, and Whitehall will be included in the scheme.

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