The new Biffa contract went live on 1st June, just 11 days after I was appointed to take on responsibility for Rubbish and Recycling across the Borough. Thankfully a lot of hard work had already been put in by many people to help ensure this would be a success and I would like to thank residents, the crews, Biffa management and the Council Officers for all their hard work to make the launch of the new contract so successful.
The previous contractor was unable to complete 13 roads (hundreds of houses) the week before, so this had to be dealt with on the first day before the crews could get on with the days planned collections.
The crews are using new vehicles with in-cab technology that helps them and allows routes to be optimised and more efficient. This change takes some getting used to, so I was delighted to hear that it was being utilised and proving to be beneficial from the outset, a real credit to our dedicated and hardworking crew members.
Over the last year 69,022 tons of rubbish was generated in Wokingham, of which 58.7% was recycled. This was a fantastic achievement as not long ago achieving 20% recycling seemed unrealistic.
We only have the one planet, so continuing to develop services, reduce the amount of waste we produce, reuse where possible and driving up the level of recycling will be key to reducing the impact of climate change which is already adversely affecting everyone on the planet.
I am really looking forward to working with Council Officers, our supplier partners and residents to achieve the best possible outcomes that we can, in terms of service quality, efficiency and value for money. Every single resident, business, organisation, charity, school etc. can play a part in this and I look forward to keeping you updated and working with you to achieve what I hope are shared objectives.
I am sure that there will be many challenges, even some frustrations ahead, but I hope that by working together we can and will see improvements that we can all be proud of and know that the efforts of every single one of us has made a difference.
I went out on a river clean up last week organised by Wokingham Waterside Centre. There were volunteers from the University of Reading, residents and my fellow ward Member Cllr Mike Smith all participated. Cllr Rob Comber (Mayor of Wokingham) came to see us off and thank everybody.
We covered about 300 meters of riverbank on either side of the Thames and picked out a huge amount of rubbish, a huge thanks to everyone involved. If you are walking or picnicking beside the river, please take your rubbish home or dispose of it safely. Further river clean ups are being organised, please check the website if you would like to help. I found it to be great fun and very rewarding.
Cllr Stephen Newton, Executive Councillor for Refuse and Recycling
