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Dave Hodgson’s monthly column: Reasons for keeping Bedford Borough weekly bin collections
b10-32 Dave Hodgson reaches 100 days in office as elected mayor of Bedford.
LAST week’s Times & Citizen reported that weekly black bin collections are here to stay in Bedford Borough.
This followed our agreement of a new contract for the disposal of green waste, saving £500,000 over its five years, while retaining current collection arrangements. With ever more councils moving to a fortnightly system, I am pleased we are continuing with weekly collections and a comprehensive recycling service.
I have always insisted that if the council wants to drive up recycling rates it must work with local residents, not try to force changes upon them. That’s why I fought alongside colleagues against the former county council’s attempts to impose a fortnightly system.
In talking to residents, the message I hear loud and clear is that people want to recycle more while also keeping a weekly black bin collection.
The evidence backs this up, with year-on-year improvements in recycling here in the borough, although there is still a long way we can go. Less waste sent to landfill means more money saved for the local taxpayer.
There are obviously also huge environmental benefits to recycling more, and therefore increased recycling is a win-win situation. That’s why I encourage everyone to use the recycling collection scheme, which is one of the most comprehensive and straightforward in the country. There is no requirement to pre-sort recycling and the single large orange bin or bag is a stark contrast to the multi-coloured confusion of boxes and bags for each different material seen in many other areas.
I want to do more to make recycling even easier for people, and that’s why we have carried out improvements to facilities at blocks of flats. We also want to expand the range of materials collected from the doorstep, and are rolling out a battery collection scheme across the borough. Working together, we can help save taxpayers’ money and protect our environment for current and future generations.
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Weather for Bedford
Monday 28 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 25 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 12 C to 19 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North east
