Fifty Pound Charge To Replace Lost Or Stolen Wheelie Bins On Way

Local councillor slams new charge by Hounslow Council as "excessive"

A new £50 replacement charge if your wheelie bin goes missing, or gets stolen, is to be introduced by Hounslow Council. A £50 charge will also be introduced for if Councill collectors are required to revisit to collect rubbish either left out at the wrong time, or uncollected because a bin was too heavy, or contained contaminated or excess waste.

The changes are part of the new recycling contract managed by Recycle 360 (R360), a subsidiary of Lampton 360, a - council company, which is launching on 31 October and were agreed at a council cabinet meeting last week.

Councillor John Todd described the new charge as "excessive" and warned that fly tipping problems are likely to double from next year when a fortnightly collection is introduced in the borough.

The new contract will also see a new recycling service launched early next year. The current mix of bags and boxes will be replaced by a boxes only system with weekly collections of all items.

In relation to missing wheelie bins the Council said, "These bins will be replaced but the resident will need to pay a £50 charge to cover the cost of delivery and VAT. Any bins lost after collection (by crew) will be replaced free of charge. No charge will be made for replacement recycling boxes", they said.

We asked Hounslow how many missing wheelie bins were reported each year and how many times they have to return to make repeat visits for rubbish not collected.

In future, the Council say R360 will return to collect a genuine missed collection, where the collection crew may not have been able to empty the bin for reasons such as problems accessing the street, but the charge will apply in most other circumstances, including:
• Bin not out in time
• Bin contaminated with incorrect waste
• Bin too heavy
• Bin with excess waste – i.e. bagged items not in the bin.
In these cases residents will have to take the waste to a civic amenity site, such as Space Waye, or pay £50 for the collection crew to return once any errors have been corrected.

Space Waye is currently closed for works and when it reopens in November, residents will only be able to access it at weekends.

Councillor Amrit Mann, deputy leader of Hounslow Council, said: “It costs money for us to send a refuse vehicle to empty a bin that was put out at the wrong time – why should this cost be footed by the council tax payer? The new policy makes the consequence of this and other collection issues that can impact the service clear for residents.

"The transfer of the waste contract to Recycle 360 has given us the opportunity to review all elements of the current service and create a business that is fair and balanced, fit for purpose and provides value for money for the council tax payer of this borough."

A new IT system available to collection staff will make it easier for residents to understand why their bin may not have been collected in real time, rather than wait until the following day according to the council. Residents must report a problem with collection on their scheduled day of collection or the following working day. In addition to the existing paper, glass, food, mixed plastics and cans, R360 will also collect cooking oil (bottled) and will continue to collect bagged textiles and small electrical items. Due to lack of demand, engine oil, mobile phones, batteries and print cartridges will no longer be collected.

Wheelie bins have caused problems in Ealing, part of which includes Chiswick. Last summer the three Liberal Democrat councillors for Southfield identified 420 problems found in 100 streets.

Councillor Gary Malcolm said, "Ealing Council has never been very effective at keeping our streets clean but since wheelie bins came along, our streets look far worse. Since we reported more than 400 issues to the Council, many have been rectified, but long term they need to buck their ideas up."

Conservative councillor Greg Stafford complained about the Labour-led council's move to a three-weekly clean and six-weekly deep clean of Ealing’s streets.

October 16, 2016