LAWR

July 2014 Local Authority Waste & Recycling 13 GREEN WASTE stopped and that the dumping of green waste is an offence." Lib Democrat MP for Birmingham Yardley John Hemming says he is con- sidering legal action against the coun- cil. He says: "It was a mistake to bring in this charge. There are people who cannot compost their green waste who are also dependent on state benefits and don't have transport. Hence they are in a position where they cannot resolve their problems themselves. It is not surprising that many people are protesting with an act of civil diso- bedience with bags of green waste." Charging for garden waste creates a host of unintended consequences. For example, residents may stop using their brown bins entirely and shove the grass cuttings in their black bins, espe- cially now that some local authorities are now closing civic amenity sites. There is also the issue of bin capac- ity, as residents may not have enough space to squash their garden waste into a 240L bin over a busy, gardening sum- mer period. Another model that councils provide is a free garden waste service within a limited time frame. Luton Borough Council offers a service from March to November for free. Northumberland collect during the same period but charge £24. There are no collections from both authorities in December, January or February due to the limited amount of garden waste produced. Hull City Council is one authority that has decided to stick to offering a free garden service for its residents. A spokeswoman says its kerbside collec- tion service for garden waste is "easy and convenient" for residents to par- ticipate in and ensures that waste bins are not overfilled on collection days. According to council leaders, this is particularly important in a city like Hull with low car ownership with some households having limited access to the council's three household waste recycling centres. Implementing a chargeable service for garden waste in a city with high levels of depriva- tion is also likely to have an adverse impact on recycling rates, she claims. She also asserts that recycling schemes are seen as one of the most visible ele- ments for frontline services offered by the council to residents and one of the key services for which residents pay council tax. However, the spokeswoman also acknowledges the downsides of offer- ing a free service. She adds: "There is obviously the collection costs associ- ated with kerbside collection of garden waste. If garden waste collection was chargeable, it is highly likely...that a number of residents would opt out and there would be an associated saving on collection costs." In the age of tight budgets, councils across the country will be looking to make savings, and garden waste can be a good place to start. However, it may be difficult to switch to a charged col- lection. It is clear that it is not black and white when it comes to charging for garden waste and it will be down to individual authorities to judge whether or not they charge for this non-statuto- ry service. " It is not surprising that many people are protesting with an act of civil disobedience with bags of green waste. " Operate a garden waste scheme Charge for garden waste scheme England 95% 36% Wales 95% 32% Scotland 84% 0% Northern Ireland 85% 0% UK 93% 31% Percentage of local authorities operating garden waste collections 2012/13

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