Dates set for tip to re-open and green waste collections

City of York Council has announced that Household Waste Recycling Centres will re-open on Monday 11 May (with a booking system in operation) and garden waste collections will get underway from Monday 18 May.

In a statement issued on Tuesday 5 May, Cllr Paula Widdowson outlined the plans:

“Today we have agreed changes which mean:

– Household Waste and Recycling Centres will reopen from 11 May by appointment only to residents and commercial waste customers for essential use.
– Bulky waste collections will restart on 11 May
– Garden waste collections will start on 18 May.

“The decision we took back in April wasn’t one we took lightly, however it was crucial we were able to keep residents and staff safe. I would like to thank residents for their understanding and also our incredible staff who have continued to collect household waste and recycling in these challenging times.

“The wellbeing of residents and our staff has been our number one priority and following resident feedback, we explored options to restart all waste collection services, including garden waste collections. In addition, these services can now be opened safely as staff absences have stabilised and we have developed new ways of working.

“Following my letter to the Secretary of State seeking further support and guidance to resume our services as soon as possible, the government released updated guidance today. The guidance advises that journeys to tips must only be undertaken if your waste or recycling cannot be stored at home safely or disposed of safely by other means.

“The household waste and recycling centres will also have social distancing measures in place in addition to our booking system. We will announce further details of the changes, including the booking system tomorrow (Wednesday 6 May).”

2,762 sign “save our bins” petition

Massive opposition to green bin charges and reduced bin emptying frequencies

Council consultation leaflet click to access

Council consultation leaflet click to access

Over 2700 residents have signed the petition objecting to green bin emptying charges and a possible reduction in grey bin emptying frequency (to every 3 or 4 weeks).

The signatures were obtained in a “door to door” campaign conducted mainly on the west of the city.

click to enlarge

click to enlarge

The petition can now be signed “on line” (click). Internet access to the petition was suspended during the election campaign.

The proposed changes to bin emptying arrangements were first promoted by Labour Councillors at the beginning of the year.

They authorised a – largely bogus – consultation exercise about options but failed to report the results of the opinion survey.

The bins petition will now be presented to the next ordinary Council meeting which is scheduled to take place on 16th July.

Bin tax petition getting good doorstep support.

The petition opposing the introduction of a £35 green bin emptying tax – and opposing any move to 3 or 4 weekly emptying frequencies – has gathered hundreds of signatures on the doorstep in west York.

The on-line version will be available on the Council’s web site until 30th March and will then be suspended during the Council election run up.

click to download

click to download

 However it will be available again from 8th May. Residents can sign it by clicking here

Meanwhile the City of York Council is reminding residents of a number of changes to the waste and recycling service this Spring.

These include:

  • A reminder that this year’s garden waste collections start from Monday (March 30):
    Residents can look up collections or download a 2015 rubbish and recycling calendar at www.york.gov.uk/refuselookup
  • Residents are asked to ensure their bins are presented by 7am on the day of their collection, but no earlier than 7pm the evening before.
  • Ahead of the new collection season, households with more than one green wheeled bin can subscribe to the additional green bin scheme which operates during the usual garden waste season.   
  • From 1 April, the charge will be £37 per additional green bin that residents would like emptied.  To find out more about the additional bin subscription scheme visit www.york.gov.uk/recycling.
  • To join the additional bin scheme, and have more than one bin emptied, call 01904 551551 or ‘apply for it’ via the secure website at www.york.gov.uk/DoItOnline
  • Changes to the price of disposing of certain items at Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRC) from 1 April:
    For items such as bricks/rubble, gas bottles, plasterboard and bonded asbestos, visit the website here for a full list of prices, or ask a member of staff on-site.

FREE compost giveaway 2015 dates announced:

In partnership with Yorwaste, compost is available every Sunday from 19 April to 20 September (except for Bank Holiday weekends) at the Harewood Whin site, which is open from 8am to 1pm.

Anyone wishing to take advantage of the giveaway just need to turn up, and bring a shovel and a suitable bag or container to put the soil improver in.

Home composting is also a great way to manage garden waste at home and provide nutrient rich compost for gardens. Visit www.getcomposting.com for further information.

Residents can also recycle their additional garden waste at Hazel Court and Towthorpe Household Waste Recycling Centres free of charge in a car. Residents using larger vehicles or trailers will need to apply for permits to use the sites.

Follow @CYCWaste on Twitter, or like CYCWaste on Facebook.

Council set to resist autumn green bin emptying.

The Council is set to stick with its decision to end green bin emptying in October each year.

The service now starts again in April.

Green bin 2

A Council report claims that most residents either store up their green waste in winter or take it to one of York’s two civic amenity recycling centres.

The report does not say how much waste was collected in the additional collection arranged in January of this year.

The Council accepts though that some garden waste found its way into grey bins, adding to the Landfill Tax burden that must be funded by Council Taxpayers.

Green bin emptying next week

last year for an additional November collection. The then Labour-run Council Group refused this request.

Ann and Stephen green bins

After Labour lost their majority on the Council last October, the Lib Dem Council Leader sent a joint letter from Opposition Councillors repeating the request for an extra green bin collection. While it was too late to organise this for November, all households with garden waste collections will get one additional collection in January 2015.

The collections will be in the weeks starting 19 and 26 January 2015.

Collections are on your usual recycling collection day.

If you still have Christmas trees to dispose of these can be chopped up and put in your green bin.

Thank you for continuing to use the recycling facilities we set up when we ran the Council. Liberal Democrats are committed to getting back to the recycling rates we achieved then.

Sadly these rates have declined in the last 3 years.

Extra green bin emptying dates confirmed

The extra garden waste collections will take place during the weeks commencing 19th and 26th January 2015.

The collections will be on residents normal recycling collection day.Waste calendar 2015

Christmas trees will also be collected at the same time.

Residents should by now have received a new collection calendar (right).

If not please visit the Council’s Facebook site.

http://www.facebook.com/CYCwaste

Pressure mounts for extra green waste collection

With high temperatures continuing and both hedges and lawns continuing to grow, the York Council has come under increased pressure to make at least one additional green bin emptying visit before Christmas.

Green waste refusebinAll the opposition groups on the Council have written to the responsible Cabinet member (Cllr Merrett) asking for the green bins to be emptied. Labour scrapped the emptying of green bins last year leaving residents without a service between November and March.

An electronic petition is being raised in support of the change

The move is backed by Liberal Democrat Councillors who have issued a statement saying

“We are calling on the Labour Cabinet to organise an additional citywide garden waste collection this month. As was the case last year, Liberal Democrat campaigners have been approached by a number of residents in recent days who are frankly bemused that the last green bin collection of the year will shortly be completed, while leaves are still falling from the trees across York.

“Residents are faced with a choice of burning their garden waste, driving across York to the remaining recycling centres or putting it into their grey waste collection – which will further increase waste sent to landfill and of course increase landfill tax.

A special garden waste collection is the only sensible option and would show residents that the council is listening to local concerns and determined to take action to reduce landfill tax.

Cost has been cited as a reason not to act, but given the rising landfill tax costs – it would surely be better for the council to spend the money on collecting the green waste rather than on the additional landfill tax which would result in not collecting the green waste.”

The joint letter from the opposition parties reads:
(more…)

“Empty our Green Bins” say residents

Residents are asking the York Council to continue to empty green bins at least until Christmas.

Green waste refusebin

The request comes as – with warm weather continuing until late into the autumn for the second successive year – large amounts of green waste are continuing to accumulate.

Labour stopped emptying bins at the beginning of November as an economy measure last year. However many residents simply put the waste into grey bins, increasing the amount going to land fill.

This meant that the Council had to pay more in landfill tax

Residents can sign a petition on the council’s web site. Click here

The petition reads

“We the undersigned petition the council to continue to collect green waste throughout the winter, or at least until Christmas 2014

As most people have leaves and other green waste, we want it to be collected later in the year. Not to stop at the end of October“

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