New Douglas waste scheme saves £177k in first year

The revised scheme for Douglas residents was introduced in 2022

A revised waste management scheme that included moving to fortnightly black bin collections made savings of £177,000 in it's first year, Douglas City Council has confirmed.

The scrapping of weekly collections took place in September 2022, following the introduction of a garden waste service that summer.

The council previously confirmed recycling rates had quadrupled and a review of the new system has since shown a reduction in costs for disposal at the incinerator.

Douglas councillor Falk Horning said the savings were "bigger than anticipated" and some of the funds would be reinvested to improve the service.

The amount paid by the local authority to dispose of waste at the incinerator reduced from £1,001,182 between October 2021 and September 2022 to £803,523 over the same period the following year.

Although the garden waste charge jumped by about £20,000 over the 12-month period, the combined savings totalled £177,195.

The council had originally estimated the switch would save £25,000 annually.

'Upwards trajectory'

The local authority had faced a backlash from some residents following the reduction in services in 2022.

Mr Horning, who is the chairman of the council's Environmental Services Committee, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service residents had adapted to the change, and as a result the number of complaints had reduced.

He said recycling rates were "continuing on an upwards trajectory", which he hoped would in turn would see a reduction in the use of the Eastern Civic Amenity Site.

A total of 213 households were granted additional bin capacity following 242 reviews, with a further 29 supported with additional recycling bins.

About 4,000 garden waste bins have been distributed to residents, and between July 2022 and October 2023 approximately 667 tonnes of garden waste was collected from households.

Additional reporting by Emma Draper, Local Democracy Reporter.