RESIDENTS of North East Lincolnshire will once again be able to recycle cardboard – thanks to a £3.59-million government grant.
And – for the first time – plastics will also be collected from households as North East Lincolnshire plans a radical shake-up of the kerbside recycling scheme in the borough.
The cash, which North East Lincolnshire Council had bid for, as reported, not only secures the future of weekly collections of ordinary household waste, but will also mean the introduction of weekly kerbside box collections.
The announcement comes just a few months after the council ordered households to stop putting cardboard in brown garden waste bins, blaming it for contamination.
It led to a furore from residents angry that they were being forced to put recyclable materials with ordinary waste.
Now, following news of the bid's success, which will be used to pay for extra equipment, vehicles and collection crews for a minimum of five years, residents have welcomed the planned changes.
It is hoped the new collections will start from next spring/summer – with residents being informed of their new collections early next year.
Resident Dave Evardson, 63 of Daggett Road, Cleethorpes, was one of a host of readers who voiced their concern in the Telegraph's Viewpoint pages over the decision to stop recycling cardboard.
He said: "It is bound to make a big difference.
"When the changes take place it will make it a lot easier to recycle.
"I think that recycling is the next best thing to not using any packaging at all.
"We don't want to be sticking our waste in landfill sites if it can be re-used.
"I welcome the new collection service because it will make things easier and help the environment."
Student Tracey Allen, 40, of Collingwood Crescent, Grimsby, added: "This will change my life greatly.
"We have been doing our own recycling and this new service will really help.
"We tend to recycle as much as we can and we have at least a bin bag full of plastic a week.
"We have needed the collections for a long time now."
As reported, the funding has come from the £250-million Weekly Collection Support administered by communities secretary Eric Pickles to help local authorities maintain or return to weekly refuse collections.
However, after the criteria for bids was opened out to include a variety of different recycling schemes, 145 local authorities applied for grants totalling £345-million – meaning the scheme was massively over-subscribed.
Councillor Peter Wheatley, portfolio holder for regeneration and environment, said he was delighted that NELC's bid was among those to be approved.
He said: "This is a win-win as the grant will create local jobs and reduce the cost of waste disposal.
"I am delighted, as we worked very hard on this bid. This is fantastic news for the people of North East Lincolnshire.
"For the first time we will be able to collect plastics direct from the kerbside, which is something residents have been asking for.
"We can also now keep our weekly collections of normal waste and not resort to fortnightly collections as many councils have done.
"This money could not have come at a better time.
"The collection and disposal of waste costs the council around £10-million a year and, with Government taxation, this bill risks getting bigger by the day.
"I would appeal to everyone to recycle as this helps keep the bill down so the council can spend money on other vital services. With a new weekly collection of recycling there is simply no excuse."
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