Hounslow Council Puts A Lid On It

Puts forward its position on controversial wheelie bin trial

Hounslow Council say that the trial of black wheelie bins due to start in May is for the purpose of achieving a tidier borough and an increase in recycling rates.

The trial, which is subject to cabinet approval next week, would see wheelie bins replace black rubbish sacks in five areas of the borough – Chiswick Riverside, Syon, Heston West, Hounslow West and Feltham West.    

Residents in the Riverside area of Chiswick are opposed to the trial and say the bins will be unsightly and will not benefit people living in terraced homes or flats. Local councillors are also angry that there was no consultation made with them through the local Chiswick Area Forum. One councillor, John Todd, said that he had researched the use of wheelie bins elsewhere and it had not been proven their use led to more recycling.

Around 7,500 homes would take part in the trial, with householders receiving a 140-litre capacity black bin to put out instead of rubbish sacks for non-recyclable waste.    

Collections would continue to take place on a weekly basis during the trial. The collection day in Chiswick's Riverside is Wednesday.    

The Council said: " The capacity of the black wheelie bins is the smallest available on the market, and is deliberately small so that during the trial, residents are encouraged to recycle more instead of sending waste to landfill.    

"The council is running the trial so it can properly understand whether the bins would work well for residents, lead to a tidier borough and also drive up recycling, which in turn would save the council money in expensive landfill tax."  

Councillor Colin Ellar, cabinet member for environment, said: “We hope the bin trial will encourage residents to recycle more.  The more we recycle we can save council taxpayer's money from paying landfill tax and spend more on services.      

“Wheelie bins should also help keep our street cleaner, because they won’t be prone to splitting or being ripped open by vermin, which creates more mess for bin crews and our street cleaners to deal with. Residents will keep their recycling containers and waste collections will remain weekly.”    

Cllr Ellar said the pilot scheme areas had been chosen specifically to ensure the council learns lessons from the trial.    

He said: “This trial is a learning exercise. These areas have been chosen because of their broad mix of houses so we can learn how best wheelie bins are suited to different types of accommodation, and how convenient they are for residents."

March 7, 2013