Liberal Democrats are calling for action to be taken after a City of York Council report confirmed that recycling is falling and its landfill tax charges will increase by 12.5% this year.

The report, which will be discussed at next week’s Community Safety and Scrutiny Committee, shows that the Labour run Council has fallen down both local and national recycling rankings over the last 12 months. The amount of landfill tax the Council will pay this year is scheduled to be £2.9million while the authority is due to miss its targets for household waste recycling. Currently the Council is only recycling 45.9%, down from 46.4% last year and well short of its 47.6% target. York has now fallen to 260th in the country for recycling rates.

There are concerns that Labour’s plans to introduce charging for green (garden waste) bins and reduce opening hours at Towthorpe Recycling Centre will make the situation even worse.

Cllr Keith Orrell, Liberal Democrat Member of the Community Safety and Scrutiny Committee, commented:
“It is very disturbing that York is underperforming compared to other Councils in terms of household waste. When the Lib Dems were running the Council we increased the recycling rate form 12% to 45% mainly by making it easier for residents to recycle and constantly saying how important recycling is.

“Labour has reversed this by closing Beckfield Lane Recycling Centre, and they are now threatening to charge for green bins and reduce opening hours at Towthorpe Recycling Centre. Given Labour’s actions, it is no surprise if residents now believe that the Council does not think recycling is important.

“If Labour don’t change their strategy recycling rates will continue to stagnate and landfill taxes increase. Urgent action is needed to reverse this decline. Given these figures, Labour should rule out charging for Green Bins, while in the long-term more work needs to be done on promotion and on making it easier for residents to recycle.”

The Liberal Democrat Group is currently running a petition against the proposals to charge residents for green bins. It can be found here:

NOTES:
Recycling Figures:
2011/12 – 46.41% (of household waste was recycled or composted).
2012/13 (Monitor 3 Report) – 45.99%
2012/13 Target– 47.61%