Businesses suspected of using facilities to avoid paying for collections
The successful roll out of recycling collections to virtually all homes in Tonbridge and Malling has prompted a decision to remove bottle, can and plastic banks from collection points across the borough.
A report to the council’s Cabinet on Tuesday 13 February revealed that since recycling was integrated into household collection rounds, deposits of glass and plastic at the car park sites had dropped by around 90 per cent. Paper and cardboard deposits dropped by 65 per cent.
The report also highlighted that much of the waste now being collected from the recycling points at a cost of £100,000 a year, appeared to be from local businesses trying to dodge paying for commercial collection services. The report went on to say: ‘As a result, the residents of Tonbridge and Malling are in effect subsidising the disposal of commercial waste by businesses.’
Across Tonbridge and Malling, almost half of all waste is now recycled or composted. Cabinet members were told that of the approximately 57,000 household in the borough, just 124 don’t currently have access to kerbside recycling collections. Many of these are rented properties where either a landlord or the nature of a property prohibited communal recycling facilities being installed.
Options for such households include using KCC recycling centres or to ask neighbours if they are willing to share capacity in their bins. Recyclable waste may also be put into black general refuse bins, the contents of which are incinerated to generate electricity, rather than going to landfill.
The report from the council’s waste team estimated that the cost of removing the sites could run to £30,000 but could also lead to annual savings of more than £100,000. Textile, book and other charity collection points on land not owned by the council, such as supermarket car parks, may remain in operation at the discretion of the landowner.
Cllr Martin Coffin, Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Transformation and Infrastructure said: ‘These sites date back to the time before we had a full recycling service. Now we collect from almost every household, it no longer makes sense to maintain them, especially given the evidence that they are being abused by some businesses so they can avoid paying commercial rates for waste collection.
‘I’m proud of our residents’ high rates of recycling and making these changes will allow us to focus on continuing to improve the weekly service we provide to residents and further reduce the environmental impact of waste.’