Joint Waste Disposal Unit (with Worc CC)

[megilleland]

In The Hereford Times

F Bloggs says...

 

The matters outlined below are central to the NAO investigation into DEFRA’s role in promoting value in this and other EFW projects and merit investigation and determination by DEFRA and Treasury before they ultimately sanction and allow this project to move forward. I would ask those with influence ensure this happens in order to safeguard tax payer value in the absence of any effective local independent scrutiny. 

 

The basis upon which the proposed incinerator decision has been founded represents a failure to choose incineration on a value driven basis. This latest proposal has no sound basis for recommendation nor is suitable to enable Councillor’s to discharge their responsibility to assure best value to the tax payer.

 

Fundamentally this option was selected based upon a predominantly environmental ranking of several alternative options reviewed in the Council’s Annexe D report – insignificant of financial influence. The report’s author clearly directs the unsuitability of the Annexe D report for the purposes of a best solution choice. It was preliminary and meant only to identify relative merits of options considered. 

 

The option study report should have undertaken, but did not, a comparative full life cycle cost benefit discounted cash flow analysis in accordance with Treasury Green Book principles (required for all publically funded schemes) of suitably and feasibly developed technological options to enable the best value solution to be identified. Consequently the incinerator option choice is not supportable on a value basis. 

 

Though capital and operational costs were identified in Annexe D they excluded transportation and did not consider beneficial revenue. The analysis was unsuitable and therefore could not be used deliver a financial value based ranking suitable and upon which all public and private investment decisions are made.

 

Furthermore Annexe D did not look at option feasibility but instead used generic data and excluded some technologies without explanation such as those recycling possibilities value preferred by the LGA and considered others as unproven such as Advanced Thermal technologies which are now being utilised in commercial waste projects.

 

The latest submission to Council merely examines financing options for the preference of incineration and thus does not address the absence of a proper value driven option study investment appraisal enabling identifying the best value solution. 

 

Inclusion of alternative options at this late stage based upon none specific technology including generic / notional future costs is unreliable and does not constitute a viable and specific option solution.

 

These core issues of value have been repeatedly been directed at both councils but remain to date unaddressed by them other than general statements of disagreement without substantiation effectively ignoring and disregarding their significance and seriousness.

[bobby47]

GO TO THE HEREFORD TIMES NOW!!!! Find the incinerator story. Pat MORGAN has transmitted something. She w'ont ever communicate with me but she might if you lot pile in. Hurry up!!!

[dippyhippy]

I've posted a few questions for Patricia - I shall give it a few hours to see if she responds....!!

(Not holding my breath though!)

[dippyhippy]

Well.....she hasn't yet,but on the plus side, young Ben Proctor popped onto the forum to ask if he could be of any assistance, then promptly disappeared again!

Oh well...there's always tomorrow!!

[megilleland]

Some good questions put to the Council 7th February 2014. Read their replies here: (5 questions) and here: (1 question).

[megilleland]

From Hereford Times February 27, 2014:

 

Don’t opt for incinerator

 

THE members of Herefordshire Council met on February 7 to decide on the budget. Part of this was to agree to help fund the £162 million needed for the planned incinerator with £40 million to come from the pockets of Herefordshire taxpayers.

 

£162 million was a figure estimated a number of years ago.

 

Costs don’t come down and it is concerning what this figure may have risen to.

 

The project has been led from its inception by the waste company.

 

Mercia Waste Management engaged Fichtner the company to run the procurement process, did the site search and have been undertaking the commercial and legal assessment of the bids to build.

 

They now need the finance for this ill-considered scheme but could still choose to build an alternative method of waste treatment at half the cost.

 

Each Conservative member voted for this when it was clear to me that facts have not been fully presented to them.

 

This was a named vote so people of Herefordshire will know the names of those who so blindly followed this whole scheme.

 

It was evident on that day that most councillors from the opposition parties had made the effort to research and listen and make themselves aware.

 

This burning issue is a waste of resources and finances and a huge threat to our environment.

 

E M JONES

 

Old Worcester Road

Waresley

Kidderminster

 

 

[megilleland]

From the Hereford Times - Your Say March 20th 2014: 

 

Waste plant won’t pay

 

I REFER once more to the controversial incinerator proposal at Elmley Lovett near Hartlebury. The Conservative party, when in opposition, called for a moratorium on the building of new waste incinerators.

 

It introduced the landfill tax – yet the two councils of Hereford and Worcester still insist on sending food and biodegradable waste to landfill instead of the cheaper method of anaerobic digestion.

 

This is significantly cheaper than burning, produces electricity and is modular, thus reducing the miles waste has to travel to one point.

 

Incinerators do emit pollutants into the environment.

 

Without the use of heat as at this proposal, incinerators are considered to be primarily waste disposal plants and the electricity produced is not classed as renewable energy.

 

The method to produce this electricity has not yet been confirmed.

 

The Government singled out anaerobic digestion for special encouragement on the grounds that it has significant carbon and energy benefits.

 

When comparing various waste treatment technologies for carbon reduction, incinerators with combined heat and power ranked only 19th out of 24 alternatives and incineration without heat as is most common in Britain (and as this proposal is) is only 22nd out of 24 alternatives.

 

Financial advice has been sought from KPMG at some considerable expense and then that advice has not been followed.

 

What hope of unbiased opinions do we have when the leader of Worcestershire Council is quoted as saying that he doesn’t care how much it costs, he just wants it, and the previous leader stating in its very early stages that it was a ‘done deal’?

 

Both of these councillors were part of the very small group that made the decision to buy the land, even though it was within metres of an extremely problematic landfill and was home to much wildlife including European protected species.

 

With the problems surrounding this site, was it really worth the quoted figure of £4.5 million paid for it?

 

Cost, carbon emissions, scale and long distances to travel to one facility at the north of the two counties mean that such large-scale waste incineration may indeed be a ‘dying technology’.

 

C A JONES Old Worcester Road, Waresley, Kidderminster

 

Hereford Council is in on this. A very good letter should have highlighted it all.

 

 

[Alex]

Thank you Glenda. If Grid Knocker is right, and I have no reason to suggest he is not, there can be no case whatever for proceeding with this project now, or ever. If the Tories insist on it there should be some kind of obligation for the individuals who vote it through to pick up the bill themselves when it goes **** up, or at least a substantial fine. They have been told it's a bust by their own advisors so to run with it would be nothing short of irresponsible. Oh how I despise them, the arrogant fools that they are, but don't tell Nick "Nice" Nenadich I was horrid about them, he might burst into tears and storm out to find his teddy bear. According to the best web site ever, Herefordshire Council's, he's the Vice Chairman of Halo Services. Is that a service for polishing his I wonder?

 

ha ha teddy bear quote is a classic Simon, nearly choked on my tea 

[megilleland]

Not much been said about this topic lately except for this piece from UKIP today:

 

Posted on July 29

 

NEWLY-ELECTED MEP TO MEET WITH INCINERATOR OPPONENTS

 

Newly-elected West Midlands MEP James Carver is set to meet with campaigners fighting against controversial plans to build a mass-burn incinerator in Worcestershire.

 

The UKIP MEP is planning to meet with opponents of the incinerator which Worcestershire County Council recently voted to plough ahead with despite a wealth of evidence being presented by action groups showing that clean, less expensive treatments methods are available.

 

Mr Carver, who was elected as an MEP in May, said he is deeply concerned by the scheme following questions raised by the council’s own financial advisors over the incinerator’s value for money aspects.

 

For a number of years action groups have petitioned the council stating that councils elsewhere in the country have dismissed mass-burn incineration as out-dated and too expensive.

 

Wakefield Council, for example, rejected incineration and predicted whole life costs of £795 million for its cleaner alternatives. This information (provided under an FOI) has already been presented to Worcestershire County Council. By comparison WCC have stated that its own Incinerator-based Project will cost £1.6 Billion over the same period

 

Norfolk County Council recently discovered their own plan for incineration would cost £105 per tonne against an average of £78 per tonne for managing waste.

 

Again this information was presented to WCC who later declared it would be paying much more than Norfolk at a cost of £123 per tonne. Based on the extra that WCC are happy to spend against this average cost, the result will be over £9million per annum wasted.

 

Frustrated by this apparent disregard for public monies, a campaign group questioned whether the council had factored in future additional costs such as the planned EU Carbon Tax (the incinerator will emit over 168,000 tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere each year); or plans by the EU to ban burning recyclable or biodegradable materials (68% of the waste proposed to be burned is in fact biodegradable).

 

Amazingly, the council responded by stating that it had not considered these, and would not be factoring in the extra costs.

 

With no questions asked as to Value for Money, the Public Works Loan Board will now loan the Council over £160 million of public money to finance this incinerator.

 

This finance route also avoids proper scrutiny by any Commercial Bank, or by the Waste Infrastructure Delivery Programme (WIDP). Defra have stated that they will not be scrutinising the business case as this incinerator scheme is no longer a PFI one. There is no one it seems responsible for proper accountability.

 

The council revealed under a Freedom of Information Request that only the options of landfill or mass burn incineration had been considered. The reason to not properly investigate those options being used and planned by other councils is unclear.

 

Recently Birmingham City Council, who are almost at the end of their 25 year incinerator contract, declared that the Tyseley Incinerator was restricting their attempts to improve recycling and was a major source of emissions, they now realise they could cut costs and are planning for change by dramatically reducing incineration.

 

Due to the rural location of this incinerator there are no viable users for the heat and the take off for any electricity is questionable.

 

MEP James Carver said: “I plan to meet with campaigners opposed to this scheme which would be chasing rubbish to burn throughout the country and may never be financially viable.

 

“The County Councils should explore all options. I will do everything in my power to stand up for the interests of residents of Herefordshire and Worcestershire.â€

 

More money up in smoke and the councils ask us how they can save money in future budgets.

[megilleland]

Friday 10 October 2014 in Hereford Times Letters 

Incinerator comes with handcuffs for Herefordshire

 

FOLLOWING the article “Herefordshire Council – cabinet did not get the detail of £90m incinerator plan†(herefordtimes.com, September 24), I would like to inform readers that Worcestershire County Council have already stated that the projected total costs of waste disposal including the incinerator will top £1.6 billion.

 

This declaration followed the council leader stating “I don’t care how much the incinerator costs, I just want it!â€

 

Worcestershire CC were also informed that Wakefield Council have sensibly rejected incineration and are able to deal with a greater amount of waste over the same period for less than half that cost.

 

Other councils have also followed alternative routes, stating that the cost of incinerating waste is far too expensive.

 

Now we have to ask ourselves why Worcester-shire are blankly refusing to even consider an option that offers half the cost to the taxpayer. Is it because they don’t care about the massive cuts that will have to be made to key services just to fund this (impacting on families and the vulnerable) or is it because the contractor is leading them along the most profitable route?

 

And let’s not forget the fact that the EU plan to bring in a carbon tax so the incinerator would then cost even more than the obscene figure that is currently projected.

 

It is such a shame that Herefordshire Council appears to be ‘handcuffed to an idiot’ in this contract as if it were able to separate itself from Worcestershire it could then choose cleaner, more sustainable and far more cost effective methods of managing its diminishing resources.

 

Unfortunately, though, Hereford’s main party is happily running alongside their Worcestershire colleagues blindfolded. When they trip and fall into a big black hole, sadly they will drag the taxpayers down with them.

 

ALAN JONES

Hartlebury, Worcestershire

 

 

[dippyhippy]

Depressing isn't it.

 

Why do they feel the need to throw our money around with such impunity??

 

They just love to waste it, chuck it away....saddle us, our children and grandchildren with un necessary debt.

 

They never listen, they never learn. Even when it's pointed out to them.

 

They refuse to acknowledge they have ever made a wrong decision, a mistake or even an error of judgement.

 

It is this attitude which will see them out of the door come May.

[megilleland]

The saga continues and together with the Amey dispute will most probably take us all to the cleaners.

Wednesday 8 April 2015 in Hereford Times News by Bill Tanner, Senior Reporter

 

Herefordshire Council puts off payment for "white elephant" incinerator

 

HEREFORDSHIRE Council is to put off purchasing its share of the Hartlebury joint incinerator site for another eight years.

 

The cabinet level decision - confirmed last month - exercises a contract clause that means the council won’t have to make immediate moves to borrow nearly £2 million to cover a purchase cost for just short of 25 per cent of the site.

 

Instead, that purchase can be completed in 2023.

 

Over the interim, the council can keep up a waste disposal reserve while the incinerator to be shared with Worcestershire is built.

 

Critics say the incinerator will be out of date as soon as it starts working, saddling taxpayers with a “white elephant†that could cost as much as £1.6 billion over its lifetime.

 

The House of Commons public accounts committee has questioned the basis of government grant funding for the project and its future in a sector where technology is continually evolving.

 

A report from the council’s external auditors Grant Thornton found that cabinet members did not get the detail of why officers – rather than consultants - saw an incinerator as the future with a relevant appraisal recommending cabinet support lacking detail and clarity.

 

Construction of the incinerator is underway.

 

A final agreement on a variation to the PFI contract that gets the incinerator built was reached between Herefordshire Council, Worcestershire County Council and Mercia Waste Management (MWM) Ltd in May last year.

 

Six months earlier, cabinet authorised a variation to the council’s joint waste management contract with Worcestershire and MWM to build and operate the incinerator to take household waste from both councils and significantly reduce the amount taken to landfill.

 

With the variation agreed, a Deed of Trust was entered into over the Hartlebury site.

 

Worcestershire holds all its interest in the plant on trust for both councils in the same proportion as their respective funding percentages – with Herefordshire’s interest being 24.2 per cent.

 

Herefordshire Council has also registered a restriction against Worcestershire’s title to record and protect Herefordshire’s interest in relation to  the site.

 

This protection means Herefordshire Council does not need to purchase its share now and can put purchase off until the contract expires in 2023.

 

The cost of acquisition is based on Herefordshire share of the acquisition cost plus debt charges incurred by Worcestershire from the date of acquisition until Herefordshire’s date of purchase.

 

This gives an estimated total acquisition cost of £1.7 million by December 2023, which will be funded by Herefordshire Council’s waste disposal reserve balance expected to be held at that date.

 

Both councils are funding the incinerator through borrowing.

 

Draw downs of funding from MWM will continue over the estimated 33 month construction period to 2017 before loan repayments fall due in February that year.

 

The total loan facility is for £163.5 million with Herefordshire providing that 24.2 per cent or £40 million.

 

This is split between an interest only loan of £31 million and a repayment loan of £9 million.

 

The interest only loan value is equivalent to the written down value of the incinerator when it is returned to the councils in 2023.

 

With an estimated economic life of 25 years, the incinerator will be returned after six years of operation making the written down value equal to the remaining 19 year life span.

 

Total loan interest and fees chargeable to MWM are fixed and representative of commercial bank charges, these total £69 million - £17 million for Herefordshire - during the loan period and repayable before the PFI contract ends.

 

The outstanding loan balance in 2023 will reflect the expected net book value of the incinerator at that date, the remaining loan principal balance of £31 million is to be repaid after the end of the PFI contract period (2023) until the end of the incinerators expected life in 2042.

 

Earlier this year, the incinerator was blasted in the European Parliament by Herefordshire MEP James Carver who accused Herefordshire Council of having "money to burn" on the project.

 

Herefordshire Council stood by the incinerator in September last year when MPs turned the heat on the near £90 million paid to the project so far - without the incinerator being built.

 

The Commons public accounts committee questioned the basis of  government grant funding for the project and its future in a sector where technology is continually evolving.

 

A report from the council’s external auditors Grant Thornton found that cabinet members did not get the detail of why officers – rather than consultants - saw an incinerator as the future with a relevant appraisal recommending cabinet support lacking detail and clarity.

 

Grant Thornton said it could not conclude its 2013-14 audit of the council or issue the council with its audit certificate until it had “completed consideration† of specific issues raised around the incinerator plan.

 

The incinerator is integral to a joint 25 year waste disposal contract with West Mercia Waste signed by Herefordshire Council and Worcestershire County Council.

 

An initial capital cost for the project is reported to be more than £160 million, but opponents claim ongoing maintenance will at least double this over the 25 years while the cost using PFI funding could triple.

 

In February last year, the council passed its 2014-15 budget committing itself to paying £40 million for the incinerator over three years.

 

A budget strategy estimated council borrowing as increasing by £50.8 million over 2014/15, pushing the overall debt up to £218.2 million, including £11 million borrowed over the year for the incinerator.

 

The issue came to a head at full council last September when questions were raised as to the future effectiveness of the incinerator and “confidence†in the related borrowing plan.

 

In response, Cllr Harry Bramer, then cabinet member for contracts and assets, stood by a financial and options appraisal put to Cabinet that support the incinerator as the most “cost effective and viable solution†for the county’s waste over 25 years

 

Cllr Bramer said confidence in capital borrowing as a best value option came from analysis and appraisals  in both the joint waste management strategy and a cabinet report completed in accordance with relevant government guidance.

 

The most strident criticism came from Commons public accounts committee and its conclusion that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs made decisions on waste projects focused on the need to meet EU targets without regard to the impact on local authorities.

 

PFI contracts of  25-30 years were found by the committee to be “inappropriate†for the waste sector where technology is continually evolving with the amount of waste is hard to predict.

 

Funding agreements for early PFI waste deals were “poorly drafted†by the then Department for Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR)  and “too lax†in requiring payments for key assets that had not been built.

 

As such, the committee found that the funding agreement signed with Herefordshire and Worcestershire councils highlighted the “shortcomings†of early PFI projects, with payments to the council aligned with payment made by the councils to the contractor.

 

Grant payments started as soon as the councils started to pay the contractor, with the government, through either the DETR or its successor the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), legally committed to making grant payments ever since.

 

In December 1998, the DETR signed a funding agreement with Herefordshire Council and Worcestershire County Council for £143 million and the payment of related grants started shortly after.

 

The terms of the original funding agreements did not allow central government to stop payment or alter the payment terms in the event that key capital assets were not delivered.

 

Since its creation in 2001, DEFRA has had responsibility for overseeing these grants and did not review the agreements until 2011.

 

Terms with Herefordshire and Worcestershire councils were not successfully renegotiated until 2013, resulting in a £30 million cut in total funding.

 

The process of renegotiation was time-consuming. In the case, of the Herefordshire and Worcestershire DEFRA confirmed to the committee that it took them six months to approve the new funding approach the councils were proposing.

 

With contractor apparently unwilling to fund the incinerator, the councils were left considering using the rate income generated from the populations of both counties to cover the cost of the contract.

 

At the end of the 2013-14 financial year, both councils had received nearly £90 million for an incinerator plant that had still to be built.

 

[megilleland]

News from Herefordshire Council - 16th March 2017

 

Herefordshire Council and Worcestershire County Council's flagship waste treatment facility is now fully operational

The final piece of the waste management jigsaw for Worcestershire and Herefordshire is now in place, with the official handover of the EnviRecover Energy-from-Waste facility to Mercia Waste Management by main contractor Hitachi Zosen Inova (HZI).

The handover follows a 33-month construction programme, which has seen the facility built on time and to specification.

EnviRecover is located on the Hartlebury Trading Estate near Kidderminster, Worcestershire.  The facility will complement Worcestershire County Council and Herefordshire Council's other waste and recycling facilities, such as EnviroSort at Norton.

The Energy-from-Waste facility is the largest single piece of capital infrastructure in Worcestershire and Herefordshire and marks the virtual elimination of landfill in the two counties. It will turn 200,000 tonnes per year of waste into electricity, exporting 15.5MW of electricity to the grid which is sufficient to power all the homes in Kidderminster.

EnviRecover was procured by the Worcestershire County Council and Herefordshire Council's waste management contractor Mercia Waste Management. The first waste was delivered into the facility in October 2016 for commissioning trials, and since then there has been a progressive involvement from Mercia’s sister company, Severn Waste Services, who will operate the facility under its Environmental Permit issued by the Environment Agency.

Councillor Anthony Blagg, Worcestershire County Council Cabinet Member for Environment, said:
"It's great news that the construction of EnviRecover has now been completed, thanks to our close working with Herefordshire Council and Mercia Waste Management. The facility will significantly benefit residents in both counties and make a major contribution to regional renewable energy generation."

Councillor Harry Bramer, Herefordshire Council Cabinet Member for Contracts and Assets, said:
“With landfill capacity in short supply, I am pleased we have been able to deliver EnviRecover in partnership with Worcestershire County Council. The fantastic new facility will accept and safely treat the region’s non-recyclable waste, and provide a valuable source of electricity for many years to come.â€

Javier Peiro at Mercia Waste Management, said:
“Delivering this type of infrastructure build on time, on budget and on spec is a rarity and we are rightly pleased with this outcome. EnviRecover completes our multi-layered recycling, resource and waste management operations and marks the end of the two counties’ reliance on landfill. It has been a great team effort by all concerned, from our staff and technical advisers, Council colleagues and our contractor HZI."

Patrick Summermatter, Project Director at Hitachi Zosen Inova said:
“The delivery of the EnviRecover project has been an extraordinary challenge to HZI and all those concerned with its delivery. HZI is very proud of the fact that the project has been delivered on time and to a high specification to Mercia Waste Management and the Councils. This achievement is a result of intensive cooperation between Mercia Waste Management, the Councils and HZI.â€

The handover of EnviRecover was marked by a gathering at the site including Councillors and senior Council officers from Worcestershire County Council and Herefordshire Council, along with representatives from Mercia Waste Management, Severn Waste Services, main contractor HZI and Wychavon District Council.

EnviRecover has an on-site visitor and education centre which becomes an integral part of Severn Waste Services engagement support for Worcestershire and Herefordshire, and complements the education programme provided at EnviroSort, Severn Waste Services' Material Reclamation Facility at Norton. Further information can be found at the Severn Waste website.

 

Over the years this project has attracted much comment about its technology and future running costs. However now that it is built, maybe the councils will get their contractors out and collect all the rubbish which lies scattered throughout our towns and along our highway verges. Also can the councils now give the rate payers a true and accurate forecast of the future running costs.

[twowheelsgood]

The Council's press release for the opening of this plant is now online, heavily edited from the previous PR in March, quoted above, to skew the glory to Herefordshire;

 

https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/news/article/315/herefordshire_waste_will_help_to_power_the_country

 

Note our previously invisible Chief Executive makes a rare appearance, presumably because royalty were cutting the ribbon. The press release is written to give the impression that Cllr Bramer single handedly built and delivered the project on time and on budget himself and also nowhere does it state where this facility is (in Hartlebury, Worcestshire, not Herefordshire). The link to the Council's EnviRecover page is equally skewed to give the impression that this is a Herefordshire facility, when in fact all of our waste now has to be driven to Hartlebury.

[SON OF GRIDKNOCKER]

@TWG: What a file calumny, to suggest that the Sainted 'Flash Harry' Bramer single-handedly constructed the £40-million Hartlebury incinerator.

 

Any fule kno that for the last six months this devoted Herefordshire councillor has been working tirelessly to get back on budget and schedule, the refurbishment of the council's former planning offices on Blue School Street.

 

Hereford may indeed be the bookies' long-shot for the UK's next City of Culture, but when it is unveiled (rumour has it that it is to be re-branded Bramer Towers), carping critics will be silenced by its breath-taking architectural elan.

[Adrian symonds]

With it now working maybe the council will stop bugging me about getting a green bin, they can chuck all my rubbish into the incinerator. 

[megilleland]

With it now working maybe the council will stop bugging me about getting a green bin, they can chuck all my rubbish into the incinerator. 

 

Apparently not. Came across this wheelie bin with notice attached. Resident puts out bin, dustmen turn up and refuse to empty contents due to unacceptable items. Dustmen leaves bin for collection in two weeks time. Resident collects bin and now has no where to put rubbish for a further two weeks. What does he do? Surely for the trouble it takes, the dustman could have placed these noxious items in a sack and disposed them back at their depot. OK leave the note attached to bin and possibly he won't do it again. Otherwise expect to see the overflowing contents spread across the estate.

 

[megilleland]

And while we are at it here is the council's list of other waste they won't take. Please do not put the following items in your recycling bins or sacks, they are not currently recyclable

    Carrier bags
    Cling film
    Brown and black plastic
    Plant pots or tubs
    Corks
    Sharps (for example, needles)
    Aluminium foil
    Shiny wrapping paper
    Pet food pouches
    Crisp packets
    Tissue, toilet roll or kitchen towels
    Wet or dirty items
    Pyrex glass
    Flat glass
    Light bulbs
    Electrical items
    Batteries
    Garden waste
    Clothes and textiles
    Polystyrene
    CD and DVDs and their cases
    Paint containers
    Pottery and crockery
    Wood
    Furniture
    Other general rubbish

[megilleland]

What happens to your recycling

 

We take your recycling to a transfer site in Hereford or Leominster where it is loaded into larger containers and transported to our EnviroSort plant in Worcestershire. It is then sorted and sent to reprocessors in the UK and Europe.

 

Polystyrene, which is 98% air can be processed here. How waste recycling helps our planet - Zero to Landfill. Nice little video about the perils of waste and its treatment in Devon.

[Adrian symonds]

Apparently not. Came across this wheelie bin with notice attached. Resident puts out bin, dustmen turn up and refuse to empty contents due to unacceptable items. Dustmen leaves bin for collection in two weeks time. Resident collects bin and now has no where to put rubbish for a further two weeks. What does he do? Surely for the trouble it takes, the dustman could have placed these noxious items in a sack and disposed them back at their depot. OK leave the note attached to bin and possibly he won't do it again. Otherwise expect to see the overflowing contents spread across the estate.

 

Waste Bin 2 Sherborne Close 05072017.jpg Waste Bin Sherborne Close 05072017.jpg

 

 

I noticed it says on that note, not at property boundary, So they have to go to where the bin is to put the notice on and yet they will not take the bin to empty.

i remember years ago they used to pick a bin up from around the back of the property, now they complain if it is a couple of feet from where it should be. 

 

Gets worse, we pay more each year and get less for it.

[Adrian symonds]

And while we are at it here is the council's list of other waste they won't take. Please do not put the following items in your recycling bins or sacks, they are not currently recyclable

 

    Carrier bags

    Cling film

    Brown and black plastic

    Plant pots or tubs

    Corks

    Sharps (for example, needles)

    Aluminium foil

    Shiny wrapping paper

    Pet food pouches

    Crisp packets

    Tissue, toilet roll or kitchen towels

    Wet or dirty items

    Pyrex glass

    Flat glass

    Light bulbs

    Electrical items

    Batteries

    Garden waste

    Clothes and textiles

    Polystyrene

    CD and DVDs and their cases

    Paint containers

    Pottery and crockery

    Wood

    Furniture

    Other general rubbish

 

 

since i do not have a green bin or recycling bags, it makes no difference to me.

[twowheelsgood]

And while we are at it here is the council's list of other waste they won't take. Please do not put the following items in your recycling bins or sacks, they are not currently recyclable

 

    Carrier bags

    Cling film

    Brown and black plastic

    Plant pots or tubs

    Corks

    Sharps (for example, needles)

    Aluminium foil

    Shiny wrapping paper

    Pet food pouches

    Crisp packets

    Tissue, toilet roll or kitchen towels

    Wet or dirty items

    Pyrex glass

    Flat glass

    Light bulbs

    Electrical items

    Batteries

    Garden waste

    Clothes and textiles

    Polystyrene

    CD and DVDs and their cases

    Paint containers

    Pottery and crockery

    Wood

    Furniture

    Other general rubbish

 

 

Some of those items can be recycled at the local 'tip', such as aluminium foil and batteries, but you have to take them, whereas some Counties offer a more comprehensive recycling collection.

[Denise Lloyd]

So piddled off am I that we religiously pay an arm and leg for the green bags specific to garden rubbish only to see it getting chucked in with the household rubbish and then onto landfill I have now signed up to Biffa for £4.50/month plus an initial payment of £15.00 to get a wheelie bin for garden waste. They then turn this green waste into compost.  Prior to signing up I checked that they are independent of the Council.  Totally off topic sorry.  Why is our Council so lacking?

[twowheelsgood]

We are considering that scheme, given the cost of green bags, the inconvenience of buying them and the ridiculous situation of it going to landfill anyway, or now, it seems, being driven to Hartlebury to be incinerated. Clearly, Biffa are doing it to make a profit and at less cost than the green bag scheme - yet again our Council are shown to be both lacking, as Denise says. Collect and compost locally - make a profit and reduce vehicle journeys to Hartlebury - too much effort for Plough Lane droids it seems.

[Adrian symonds]

Some of those items can be recycled at the local 'tip', such as aluminium foil and batteries, but you have to take them, whereas some Counties offer a more comprehensive recycling collection.

 

Some of those items can be recycled at the local 'tip', such as aluminium foil and batteries, but you have to take them, whereas some Counties offer a more comprehensive recycling collection.

But you also see how many bins and containers people have in some of these counties.  i have heard of places that have four bins or more and nowhere to put them. do we really want that here?

 

So piddled off am I that we religiously pay an arm and leg for the green bags specific to garden rubbish only to see it getting chucked in with the household rubbish and then onto landfill I have now signed up to Biffa for £4.50/month plus an initial payment of £15.00 to get a wheelie bin for garden waste. They then turn this green waste into compost.  Prior to signing up I checked that they are independent of the Council.  Totally off topic sorry.  Why is our Council so lacking?

At least now you have a choice. If the council did a subscription service like Biffa, i am pretty sure that would be the only option.

i prefer buying the bags as i do not need to use them every week and a couple of rolls of bags will last me the summer.

[Aylestone Voice]

So piddled off am I that we religiously pay an arm and leg for the green bags specific to garden rubbish only to see it getting chucked in with the household rubbish and then onto landfill I have now signed up to Biffa for £4.50/month plus an initial payment of £15.00 to get a wheelie bin for garden waste. They then turn this green waste into compost.  Prior to signing up I checked that they are independent of the Council.  Totally off topic sorry.  Why is our Council so lacking?

I do not know your personal circumstances but as you use green bags you seem to have a garden. Do you not have space for a compost bin? This would not only save you the money you are giving Biffa or the Council but would also save you buying compost.

[Denise Lloyd]

Oh yes I had compost bins and then I had rats and little dogs who just would not come in at night. One little dog even decided it would be lovely to chase the rats across the neighbour's garden one cold frosty snowy night! Compost bins given away after trying several different methods of getting rid of the rats.

 

A word of warning to anybody who has compost bins or who thinks it is lovely to have a couple of chickens in their garden  - Beware of the Rats

 

Whilst on the subject of rats the Council offer a pest control service but what they did for £80.00 I could well have done! As nice as the chap was it was a rip off!!