Bin charges begin

From Monday, January 17, developers and management companies of newly-built properties and developments within the Rotherham borough will be charged for their first set of waste containers that are supplied.

For an overall fee of £57 including delivery, new properties will each receive a 240 litre black bin, a 240 litre green bin, a blue box and a blue bag.

Existing households will not have to pay for replacement recycling but replacement black bins will cost £22.  A charge of £8 will be made for delivery although bins can be collected for free from Hellaby Depot (by arrangement) between 9 am and 2 pm Monday to Friday.

All Rothercard holders will get a 50 per cent discount and there will also be exemptions on some replacement black bins.

There will be NO charge for replacement bins that have been set alight; stolen bins if a police incident number is provided; the larger 140 litre black wheeled bins for families of five or more; and black and green bins that have been damaged by the refuse crews during collection. 

Unlike many authorities across the country, the authority has traditionally issued free waste bins to householders But in the face of a mounting bill for replacements it was decided last year that it can no longer afford to do this, particularly as now it offers a far more complex recycling service with more containers.  

There are about 112,000 households in Rotherham and last year the authority provided over 25,000 replacement waste containers free of charge. This is a much higher number than other councils of the same size and cost the taxpayer over £200,000.

Cllr Gerald Smith, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Environment for the Council, said that the authority simply cannot go on providing free waste containers.

He added: "It is regrettable that we are having to introduce the £22 replacement charge but if we want to continue with our range of collections and improve our recycling rate we will have to introduce this fee.

"We provided over 25,000 free replacement waste containers in 2009. This costs us a huge amount of money and it just cannot be sustained. However, if there are genuine reasons for the need for a replacement, such as being stolen, fired or damaged, then the free replacement will still apply.

"In recent years, Rotherham's residents have responded brilliantly to our recycling campaign. The borough now recycles 42 per cent of its household waste and we are doing everything we can to make that a more efficient and cost-effective operation, by using new multi-collection vehicles, for example. But we need to see recycling rate increase in order to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill."

Last year the authority reached a recycling rate of 42 per cent by providing a wide range of refuse and recycling services across the borough.

Black bins take residual waste; green bins take green waste and cardboard; blue boxes collect cans, bottles, aluminium foil, shoes and textile recycling and blue bags collect waste paper.

The authority also provides 54 'bring banks' across Rotherham and has four Household Waste Recycling Centres.

Further information about the scheme is available on the Council website or contact Streetpride on 01709 336 003.