Bracknell

Bracknell Forest residents can now have the convenience of using a brown wheelie bin for their organic garden waste.

Keen Bracknell gardeners are being given the option of buying a brown wheelie bin, for a one off cost of £30, which will be emptied by the Council once a fortnight. Combined with the current option of using biodegradable sacks for garden waste the new service will mean the end of numerous time-wasting and petrol-consuming trips to the civic amenity site.

The Bracknell wheelie bins also provide a clean and tidy way to store garden waste between collections. However, residents who wish to continue using biodegradable brown sacks can do so. They are already available from shops and some parish and town council offices and cost 30p

Collecting garden waste will mean less waste being sent to landfill sites, which harms the environment, and would avoid rises in landfill taxes as there is no tax on recycling. Landfill taxes, paid through the council tax, will go up over the next few years if more rubbish is not recycled.

Currently, Bracknell Forest residents recycle 28 per cent of their household waste, however, up to 60 per cent of rubbish sent to landfill could be recycled. The Council is encouraging increased recycling of biodegradable garden waste, including leaves, grass cuttings, and hedge and shrub clippings. A survey in 2002 showed 32 per cent of refuse in the summer was garden waste and the new brown bins will divert it from household rubbish.

Cllr Mrs Mary Ballin, Executive Member for Bracknell Public and Environmental Services, said: "We would like to encourage as many people as possible to buy a brown bin or to use the biodegradable bags as this is an easy and effective way to stop additional pressures on the environment and the council tax."

The fortnightly brown bin collection is starting in advance of a proposed Alternate Bin Collection (ABC) scheme, which is due to be launched in October. Recycling and garden waste will be collected one week and residual household waste the following week.

Bracknell Residents will have a choice for recycling collection to continue using recycling boxes or receiving a new blue wheelie bin for cans and plastic bottles and additional boxes for paper and card. These will be free of charge.

There will be plenty of information and guidance for residents about ABC throughout the summer and a dedicated team of officers will be available to visit residents to help them and ensure they are fully prepared when the new scheme is implemented.

This scheme has been used successfully in more than 30 per cent of other councils in the UK to increase recycling rates.

For more information contact the Waste and Recycling Team on 01344 352000.

Bracknell Forest Borough Council