Bin days are set to change in Rugby

Rugby Borough Council announced late last year that it plans to introduce separate food waste collections with this week’s latest cabinet report shedding further light on the ripple effect.

Recycling and rubbish bins will continue to be collected on a fortnightly basis with green bin collections, which currently include food waste, moving to an opt-in service.

Households will receive two food waste caddies – one for inside the home, one for outside – that will be collected weekly with food waste no longer accepted in green bins once the changes kick in.

Bin lorry routes are being reviewed as part of the changes to keep down costs and emissions as much as possible. It means that current collection days are likely to change but once set, they will be on the same day each week or fortnight.

The aim is to get food waste recycled or composted at home in the council’s bid to increase recycling rates. It currently recycles 47 per cent of the borough’s domestic waste, three per cent higher than the national average, but the government wants authorities to hit 65 per cent by 2035.

The council is already committed to spending £1.684 million on new bin lorries and food caddies and now plans to use £185,000 of a government grant to pay for three temporary staff posts – a community engagement officer for 18 months and two customer contact centre operatives for four months each – to communicate the changes and deal with the anticipated additional queries that come in.

The money will also pay for things like social media and newspaper advertising, posters and leaflet drops.

The cabinet – the panel of Labour councillors in charge of major service areas – unanimously voted to recommend the plans to full council for approval and it seems that will be passed without dissent with leading figures of all three political parties with seats on the authority speaking in favour at Tuesday’s meeting.

Conservative group leader Councillor Derek Poole (Wolston & The Lawfords) said: “It is imperative that we let our residents know what is coming down the line and that we have someone with the knowledge to answer the questions that we can’t answer ourselves as councillors.”

Deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats Councillor Isabelle McKenzie (Rokeby & Overslade) added: “I welcome us having an engagement officer to help communicate on this and reach out to those who wouldn’t necessarily be reached by ordinary council communications.

“This is an incredibly important change to our collections. Getting that food waste out of the bins and into those caddies so they can actually turn them into biogas is so much better than what is done with it when it goes in a black bin.”

Leader Councillor Michael Moran (Lab, Admirals & Cawston) concluded: “Clearly if we are serious about delivering a greener, fairer Rugby then this is pretty fundamental. I welcome the fact we are going to get a really significant, strategic plan. We’re very keen to take this forward.”