Green bin charges

It is over 2 years since the York Council started to charge for emptying second and subsequent green (garden waste) bins.

The charge was controversial at the time as there were fears that excess compostable waste would simply be put into grey bins and subsequently land-filled.

There were also concerns that some might be fly tipped.

New figures reveal that the numbers prepared to pay for green bin emptying have fallen.

The number of subscriptions in 2015 was 1,320
The number of subscriptions in 2016 was 1,146

Green bins currently cost £37 a year to empty.

The Council therefore has secured an income, through the charges, of around £43,000 a year.

Landfill Tax cost York taxpayers over £4 million in 2016.

This years figure is expected to be even higher.

Waste trends

Harewood Whin tipping to continue for another 15 years

It looks like tipping t the Harewood Whin landfill site near Rufforth could continue for another 15 years.

Entrance to Harewood Whin

A planning application being considered next week will allow tiopping “in the eventuality that it is not possible process the anticipated volumes of waste through the approved Allerton Park Energy from Waste Plant”.

The activity has been subject to criticism n the past and the officers report makes the following observation

“The application site lies within open countryside to the north east of the village of Rufforth although a number of residential properties lie within a 500 metre radius and as a consequence of the elevated nature of the site longer distance effects are sometimes experienced in terms of noise from processing machinery.

The site is however subject to a detailed noise management plan which has proved highly effective in recent times and it is felt that there has been no material change in circumstances in respect of impacts upon residential amenity since planning permission for extension of the landfill activity was initially given in 2004”.

There have been no objections to the proposal

The report recommends that the planning committee meeting on 17^th November approve the plans.

NB: Nearby a proposal to site a poultry farm on land off Bradley Lane, Rufforth is recommended for refusal

York green bin charges generating £40,000 a year

The York Council has revealed that it is receiving an additional £40,000 a year from the new charges introduced for emptying supplementary green (garden waste) bins.

Each household has been entitled to have only one green bin emptied free of charge since the beginning of April 2014.

When the Labour Cabinet decided to introduce the charges in April 2013, they were told that there were at least 5000 additional green waste bins in use in the City.

They hoped that, by charging £35 per bin per year, they would generate over £122,000 a year in increased revenue.

In reality only 1166 households have decided to pay for the extra bins.

It is unclear that is now happening to the green waste that was previously collected.

While some will be “home composted”, more is likely to be going into grey bins.

This will potentially generate more than £50,000 in landfill tax “penalties” making the charging scheme look unattractive to Council Taxpayers who will have to pick up the extra bill.