Recycling chaos latest

This answer was given this week by Cllr Carl Maynard via his Ask The Leader slot on the www.rother.gov.uk website.

The questioner said they were completely in favour of recycling, reducing and reusing items that would otherwise contribute to landfill and, having reduced their waste by 50%, had "no issue"over the size of Rother's wheelie bins.

"However, I am disappointed with the way the new scheme has been implemented.

"I attended one of the information days in Devonshire Square, received a leaflet and had a visit.

"But all this glossy PR is meaningless as I have been given conflicting information and have been unable to get a response from Rother.

"I e-mailed Rother on May 16 using the e-mail address on the back of the information leaflet, which can still be viewed on your website, and have never received a response.

"For instance, one piece of information I was given at the information day was that there would be provision for recycling householders' old-style bins which have been made redundant by the new wheelie bins.

"Please advise.

"Clearly, the Verdant workforce are unhappy, which I am aware of at first hand having spoken to two of them this morning.

"Obviously, there are going to be some teething troubles introducing such a major new scheme at the same time as a new contractor but the Verdant staff on the street are doing their best to comply with the new regime and householders are unwittingly upsetting Verdant's collectors because householders cannot get the information they need and find out what is going on.

"Please define what steps are being taken to deal with this."

The leader says: "The council shares your disappointment and are working hard with Verdant to ensure the contractors get back on track.

"I would confirm that the limit for collection of garden waste until the new service starts in September is indeed two sacks and would apologise if you were given less than accurate information.

"So far as recycling the old bins is concerned, it is still the council's intention to so this but I am sure you will appreciate that the priority at the moment is to ensure that the basic service meets the expectations of the council and all of its residents.

"I do not expect to be in a position to dispose of the old binds until the end of 2007."