Residents have been left fuming after a council announced its proposals to switch bin collections from fortnightly to once every three weeks – as many fear “there will be rubbish everywhere”.
East Herts and North Herts district councils, who share joint responsibility for collecting household waste, will implement the new schedule in May this year.
They will also be introducing a new recycling bin, for the collection of mixed cardboard and paper.
It is one of several local authorities across the country that are making the change later this year, with East and North Herts saying the switch will “enhance recycling opportunities for residents”.
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Two brothers, Oma and Mohammed Ait-Ahmed said uncollected rubbish is already a problem for them
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However, not all locals are pleased with the delayed collections – as concerns are raised that litter could soon be “overflowing”.
Taking to the streets of Bishop’s Stortford, a town with approximately 45,000 residents, GB News spoke to individuals soon to be impacted by the change.
One resident, who wished to remain anonymous, worried about the rapid expansion of the town and the lack of facilities to meet the growth.
She said: “The size of our town is growing so fast. We’re building thousands more houses, and yet we’ve got the smallest dump.
“If the collections are reduced, people are just going to be dumping their stuff.”
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Martin Barrel, 74, told The People’s Channel that whilst he lives with just his partner, he could envisage it being a problem for larger families
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East and North Herts saying the change will ‘enhance recycling opportunities for residents’
GB News
“When you look round at the bins, most bin lids are up already. And now we’re going to have another week to go on top of it!
She added: “The council is not helping itself.”
Two brothers, Oma Ait-Ahmed and Mohammed, said uncollected rubbish is already a problem for them.
The 25 and 27-year-old have become more aware of the issue since moving from a building which sorted their rubbish and dealt with the council on behalf of them.
“Sometimes it’s been a couple of days and I want to take the other trash out, but it’s still full. So sometimes we have a pile of bins inside our home,” Mohammed said.
East Herts and North Herts district councils are one of several local authorities across the country that are making the switch later this year
PA
While they admitted that it wasn’t personally a “huge issue” yet, it was certainly an “inconvenience” and would be “intrigued to see how it will be with the extra week”.
Oma said: “It would be amazing if you could go outside with your bin and it was actually empty to put more rubbish into it.”
However, the brothers said that they would welcome the extra bin for recycling, calling the addition a “good thing”.
Martin Barrel, 74, told The People’s Channel that while he lives with just his partner, he could envisage it being a problem for larger families.
Another resident, Andy Deadman, 65, echoed his sentiment: “If you’ve got three or four kids, I imagine it’s going to be a bit tight.”
Barrel said he would appreciate the extra recycling bin, as for his household, this is the first to get filled up.
However, Barrel was more concerned about how environmentally friendly the bins themselves are and if introducing another bin would be good for the planet.
On Hull City Council’s website, the local authority states that there must be ‘no side waste with the black bin’Getty
“I always look at the bins and think, how much plastic is being used to make it and how much plastic you’d have to recycle to neutralise the cost of the bin,” he said, suggesting using sacks instead could be an alternative.
John Barfoot, founder of Tidy Up Bishops Stortford (TUBS), discussed the issue of litter in and around the town as a whole.
“You cannot solve the litter problem by talking about it, you either pick it up or employ people to pick it up.
“The litter tends to be fast food waste, alcohol bottles and cans, sweet wrappers etc.”
However, he said that he does not expect the reduced collection times to “alter littering”. He said: “Household waste, and the frequency of collection has never seemed to be a factor.”
He added: “And I do not think that people will take their household waste out and throw it in the streets.”
Currently, most councils across Britain operate fortnightly black bin collections, with some still maintaining weekly services.
The trend towards less frequent collections reflects growing financial pressures on local authorities and efforts to increase recycling rates.
GB News has contacted East Herts and North Herts district councils for comment.
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