Food waste collection coming to Wokingham Borough in 2019

Wokingham Borough joins other boroughs to help reduce landfill waste by introducing kerbside food waste collection

From April 2019, households will be able to recycle almost all types of food waste, excluding fats and oils. Each household will receive a sealable 23 litre kerbside food waste container, along with a smaller kitchen caddie and liners.

Food waste will be collected on a weekly basis at the same time as blue bag and black box collections, as part of council plans to recycle at least 50% of all household waste by the end of 2020. Households will continue to receive an allocation of 80 blue bags, or more for larger families, on an annual basis and collections will remain the same.

The annual delivery of blue bags will be slightly earlier next year to allow for the introduction of food waste collections.

Reduced waste

At present around 30% of all residual blue bag waste could be recycled in regular food waste collections – which is over 10,000 tonnes annually. When sent to landfill and left to decompose, food waste produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas. By introducing collections, we can reduce the amount of methane released into the atmosphere and save up to £100 per tonne by diverting waste from landfill.

The food waste will be sent to an anaerobic digestion plant, which captures the methane created by the waste to produce energy and fertiliser.

Councillor comment

Cllr Norman Jorgensen, executive member for environment, sports, environmental health, leisure and libraries, said: “We’re all becoming aware of the impact we are having on the environment and so it’s important we do our bit. When food waste is sent to landfill, it produces methane – a greenhouse gas 20 times more harmful than carbon dioxide. Introducing food waste collections will allow us to reduce the amount of methane in the atmosphere, and reduce how much waste we send to landfill.”

The new service will be provided by current providers, Veolia, who will be providing a new fleet to support the service.

The WW1 story panels, installed by next to the War Memorial to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the end of the war, are scheduled to be temporarily removed the week commencing 7 January in order for the manufacturer to correct some printing issues. The panels will be reinstalled the following week (w/c 14 January). 

Anthony Stansfeld, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley launches a survey on an increase in council tax to help protect operational policing

The Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Thames Valley, Anthony Stansfeld, has launched a survey seeking the public view on an increase in the police element of the council tax by £2 a month*.

On Thursday 13th December the Home Secretary announced the provisional police funding settlement for 2019/20. In response to the exceptional operational demands on the police, particularly in areas such as Thames Valley, the Government is increasing the funding available to PCCs by up to £813 million. However, this is provided all PCCs increase the police portion of the council tax by £2 a month or £24 a year (equivalent for a Band D property), which, collectively, will raise £509 million of the £813 million increase in funding.

Anthony Stansfeld said: “The Thames Valley Police budget has been cut by £101 million over the last eight years which has resulted in significant cuts to police officer and staff numbers. This year the Government has encouraged all PCCs to raise the policing element of the council tax precept for all households. To prevent further damaging cuts to policing and restore some important frontline policing capability I would like to make use of this Government advice and raise the council tax precept accordingly.

“Demand on police forces nationally has risen significantly in the last year as a result of an increase in non-crime business, higher crime numbers, the increasing complexity of crime, and the increasing reach of criminals both physically and via technology. Throughout this Thames Valley Police has been efficient and effective but having already faced significant cuts since 2010/11 the process of identifying new cash savings is becoming ever more challenging. However, we are committed to making policing even more efficient and have already identified over £4m of new savings in 2019/20.”

“My focus for the future continues to be on delivering strong neighbourhood policing for all of the communities across the Thames Valley whilst addressing the serious threats and hardship posed by criminals. With this in mind the extra cash generated from the proposed increase in council tax will be spent on operational policing. The draft budget for 2019/20 includes additional funding to increase local frontline policing, recruit more investigators and improve contact management with the aim to reduce call waiting times on 101 calls.”

The survey and more information, including the proposed amounts from each council tax band can be found by visiting: https://bit.ly/2QEkGkk

Closing Date: Wednesday 9th January 2019 at 17.00

*this is the equivalent for a Band D property. The increase for other property Bands is set out in the table available with the survey on the above link.