A new garden waste recycling scheme is launched
Shepherd’s Bush residents will be able to tidy their gardens and help the environment at the same time, thanks to a new garden waste recycling scheme.
Under the scheme, green-fingered residents can collect their garden waste in starch-based biodegradable sacksand leave them outside their homes for weekly collections.
The kerbside collections begin on 21 April, with different days designated for different parts of W12: on Tuesdays, collections will be made on the southside of Goldhawk Road, while residents living north of Goldhawk Road will have their sacks collected on Wednesdays.
However, residents will have to pay to take part in the scheme: the council is charging £7.25 for 50 sacks and the weekly collection service, plus another £7.25 for repeat orders of 25 sacks.
“This is another example of the Tories charging for services that were once free,” said the Liberal Democrat Candidate for the London Assembly, Merlene Emerson. “Ideally the council, rather than provide council tax cuts, should encourage recycling and dispense with the chargeand have it paid for out of council taxes,” she said.
“The council should also be doing much
more to advertisethis service as H&F has one of the highest
turnover of residents in the country,” Emerson added.
“As a result, residents need to be regularly and frequently
reminded of its recycling service”.
Hammersmith & Fulham Council's Deputy
Leader and Cabinet Member for Environment, Cllr Nicholas Botterill,
said that with the new service, people would save money in the
long run: "I hope everyone will remember to recycle their
garden waste. Not only is it better for the environment but it all
goes towards helping us meet ourrecycling targets, which ultimately
reduces the impact on council tax though lower landfill disposal
costs," he said.
The biodegradable sacks take about two weeks to breakdown naturally and the council says a similar scheme lastyear saved 478 tonnes of garden waste from landfill, converting it into compost instead.
Grass cuttings, plants, flowers and weeds can all be putinto the sacks, as well as leaves and twigs, but food waste, rubble and branches over three inches (7 centimetres) in diameter cannot.
Residents who want to take part in the scheme need toorder their sacks from the council, which says it will deliver them to people’s homes within four working days.
To order sacks or for more information, please telephone 020 8753 1100.
April 29, 2008