Your chance to comment on Marlborough's rubbish collections

Wiltshire residents are being asked to comment on proposals for future rubbish collections across the county.

 

Wiltshire Council is responsible for collecting and disposing of all household rubbish, but prior to April 1, 2009, when the unitary council was formed, all household rubbish was collected by four district councils and disposed of by the county council. Currently, the service provided is different across Wiltshire and the council wants to ensure everyone receives a high quality service.

 

Toby Sturgis, cabinet member for waste, said: “We want people to recycle as much as possible in Wiltshire. Our aim is to provide a first class recycling service no matter where residents live in the county and increase our current recycling rate from 40.5 percent to over 50 percent.

 

“It is vital that we reduce the amount of rubbish going to landfill sites as space is at a premium and we must reduce the gas emissions and environmental impact these sites have on our county.

 

“The impact of not reducing the amount of rubbish will be the landfill taxes, which will increase from £12.5million to £17million by 2015.”

 

The proposal is that the council continues with the existing black box recycling collection, which almost everyone has across the county, and will also provide:

 

*    A kerbside collection of plastic bottles and cardboard every two weeks

*    An optional free kerbside collection of garden waste every two weeks

 

This proposal can be delivered by using existing resources and vehicles, and as a result of efficiency savings made through the move to one council. However, these additional recycling services can only be provided if the non-recyclable rubbish is also collected every two weeks.

 

People can have their say on the proposals in a number of ways:

o    By picking up a questionnaire from council offices, libraries and area board meetings

o    Visiting the roadshows in Chippenham, Trowbridge, Devizes and Salisbury

o    By completing the questionnaire online at www.wiltshire.gov.uk/waste

 

The consultation period runs from now until August 20th.