DELAYING plans to implement new recycling collection sacks will cost the borough at least £600,000, says council leader John Halsall.
But that’s rubbish, according to the Liberal Democrats.
Last week, Wokingham Liberal Democrats ‘called in’ a decision by the executive to replace the black boxes used by households for recycling waste with polypropylene sacks that would keep the waste dry.
This means the council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee – comprising councillors from all sides of the political spectrum – will consider whether the ruling executive should be asked to review its decision.
But the council says that the decision on the new sacks needed to be made in July to ensure that they could be used before the wet weather arrives in the autumn – changes introduced by recycling firms last year meant that while previously wet cardboard had been no problem, it is no longer being accepted.
And with Wokingham Borough Council voting to be as carbon neutral as possible by 2030, boosting recycling rates is important.
Councils also face fines and costs if their recycling does not meet targets.
The delay, council leader John Halsall says, will cost it between £15,000 and £20,000 a week.
Cllr Halsall said: “The Liberal Democrats’ call-in means we won’t implement the solution between now and Christmas, the solution will launch in January so the delay is calculated to cost us short of £300,000.”
“We’ve already lost four weeks, which is £70,000.”
Cllr Halsall added that the council contracted Resources Future to explore various options, including lids on boxes, shower caps for boxes and wheelie bins.
“We commissioned that study to give us a roadmap. We needed a solution to wet waste – not necessarily a permanent solution but one that killed the problem in the short-term for the minimum amount of cost,” Cllr Halsall said.
“It’s a big piece of work, but we need to save £600,000 a year, we need to implement a short-term solution. All solutions have a problem, there is no ideal solution.
“We are in an emergency, due to coronavirus, and have to balance the budget – to chuck away £600,000 of ratepayers’ money is just irresponsible. It’s irresponsible to call in.
‘The Liberal Democrats knew’
“The Liberal Democrat leader, Cllr Lindsay Ferris, is being disingenuous, I told him we were doing this three-four months ago.
“The report only hit our desks in July, before enough time to implement before the wet season starts.”
There has been criticism online from residents who wanted to know why lids or caps for the existing black boxes hadn’t been implemented.
He added: “Cheap is not always the best solution. Lids was seemingly obvious, but they fly all over the place unless they are attached to boxes.
“The choices are like going to a restaurant, anyone can argue the case for steak or argue the case for fish and chips, we took advice from an expert.”
And Cllr Halsall also has an eyeon increasing recycling to near zero, with options including leaving the re3 partnership it currently runs with Reading and Bracknell Forest councils.
“Re3 will have to be much more capable of sorting with recycling. We are limited by re3’s capability,” he said.
“I suspect we may have to come out of re3 we need a solution that respects all three partners in this marriage.
As to why the council were calling the sacks hessian, Cllr Halsall said: “It’s an industry term, just as I use a ‘Hoover’ to vacuum my home with. We are now calling them waterproof recycling bags, it’s as simple as that.”
And Cllr Halsall also pledged that the black boxes and the sacks would be recycled at the end of their lives.
“We will recycle them,” he promised. “They’ll be turned into a kind of MDF, it’s a fantastic material that is made out of stuff that can’t be recycled.”
‘We were told in July’
But his views were dismissed by Lib Dems deputy leader, Cllr Clive Jones.
“It’s typical rubbish from the leader of the council,” he said. “We were told on July 28 that this had to go to the July 30 executive meeting so that the bags could be purchased. They had a three-month lead time and it would take five weeks to distribute, so we would be using them some time in December if approved now.
“At the Executive, they talked about needing to approve the business case for the sacks at the September 24 meeting.
“It’s not the call-in that’s holding this up, he’s talking complete rubbish.”
He also criticised the council for paying consultants £36,000 for the report without allowing councillors the chance to consider it.
What about wheelie bins?
“Is there anything else that (the consultants) didn’t consider, such as wheelie bins? Did they consider all the options?” he asked.
“Why was this all seen to be rushed in July when we knew in the autumn of last year that the rules were changing on wet paper?”
Cllr Jones stressed he was not accusing officers of delaying any decisions due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Our officers and senior officers have worked really hard in very, very testing times,” he said. “They’ve been flexible and taken on different roles. It’s really, really appreciated. “But the proper business of council must continue.
“We think this decision was rushed more to do with the fact that some Conservatives wanted to get away on holiday.”
He added: “We made the call-in because the decision-making process hasn’t been giving proper scrutiny, not by opposition councillors and probably not by any Conservative councillors. It’s been made by just a few Conservative councillors at the top.”
