Consultation plan to fix 'disastrous' bin system

Residents currently have to divide recycling into separate bags

A council that pledged to sort out a "disastrous bin system" and simplify recycling is set to put its ideas to the public.

Since November, residents in Basildon, Essex, have had to split their rubbish and recycling into six different sections, with refuse collected fortnightly - a system introduced by Basildon Council under its previous Conservative control.

No details of, or date for the consultation have been released but the Labour group on the council said it would include options to return to weekly collections for non-recyclable waste.

Aidan McGurran, member for the environment, said: "Back in May we committed to residents that we would fix the bins. Since then, we have moved at pace to ensure we can reinstate weekly collections as quickly as we are able."

The changes made last year by the Conservatives were aimed at boosting recycling rates but sparked complaints and an independent councillor claimed festering waste was putting public health at risk.

Gavin Callaghan, the Labour leader of Basildon Council, said earlier this month: "We are going to be taking a report to the cabinet... looking at how we go back to weekly black sack collections. That is a promise we made and that is a promise we are going to deliver."

Labour is the largest party at the borough council since the local elections in May, in which the Conservatives were defeated and no party achieved overall control.

"I am acutely aware that we won the election by essentially making it a referendum on the disastrous bin system," added Mr Callaghan.

Councillors approved proposals to launch a new borough-wide consultation on the frequency of waste collections at a meeting of Basildon Council’s Cabinet on Thursday.

Referring to the proposed consultation, Mr McGurran said: "The first step toward this is to engage with our residents and talk with the county council to make sure proper arrangements are in place before bringing forward options later in the year."