Following Kerrier District Council’s recent
motion of no confidence in the Cornwall County Council Waste PFI process the
council is also expressing its concern about the increase, come October 2008,
in the cost of processing kerbside collected materials.
As part of Cornwall County Council’s agreement with SITA, Kerrier is
legally bound to deliver collected materials from the Blue Box scheme to SITA.
SITA will introduce a charge for processing the materials and this charge must
be met by the Kerrier District Council.
It is likely that the additional cost to Kerrier after October 2008 will be
in the region of £60,000 - £100,000 per year; the more residents
in the District recycle, the more SITA will charge the Council.
Clearly this sum will have to be met from Council Tax or lead to a reduction
in recycling or other services.
As an example, Kerrier currently pays £27.00 to a local company for each
tonne of kerbside collected garden waste which is composted, under SITA the
same process will be charged at over £31.00 per tonne.
For each tonne of paper recycled by residents (currently about 150 tonnes per
month), SITA will charge Kerrier £25.00, previously, under the former
ownership of the Cornwall Paper Company, there was no processing charge imposed.
Likewise processing charges will be introduced for all other materials Kerrier
residents currently place in their Blue Boxes.
Under the previous ownership of Cornwall Paper Company the council was paid
for some of the materials collected.
From October 2008 SITA will no longer pay Kerrier for the recyclable materials
delivered to them.
Previously this was worth £40,000 per year which is used to offset the
cost of the recycling schemes.
Councillor Graeme Hicks, Portfolio Holder with responsibility for the Environment
said: “This demonstrates the reality of the County Council's "highly
acclaimed" I.W.M. Contract. No one should be under any illusions that
when SITA impose these charges it is not going to be without a significant
cost to the tax payer, especially as the public expectations are for Kerrier
to increase its recycling rates.
“These bully boy tactics deployed by Cornwall County Council are an affront
to the fundamental principles of partnership working, two fingers to the admirable
concept of environmentally sustainable waste management, and a kick in the
teeth to the already hard pressed council tax payer.”
Source of information
http://www.lgn.co.uk/ezine/news/news5415.html