CHESHIRE West and Chester Council has put forward its plans for a revamped household waste and recycling service which would be in place across the borough for at least the next three years.

Councillors will rule on the authority's new waste management strategy proposals during a cabinet meeting on June 9.

The council says its current service is nearly 20 years old and no longer fit for purpose.

Its proposed model will provide a fairer waste and recycling service that will give greater value for money, the authority added.

In January, the council embarked on a major public consultation on plan for a new waste management strategy, with proposals including bins being emptied every three weeks.

More than 14,800 people offered feedback and the council says its proposed new service has been shaped based on these responses.

Based on the findings of the consultation and some of the challenges facing the service, the key recommendations for the new strategy include:

  • Household waste collected fortnightly using a 180 litre wheeled bin (as per the current arrangement).
  • Two larger capacity recycling bins on wheels collected fortnightly to replace existing 55-litre boxes.
  • Food collections weekly using existing small food bin (as per the current arrangement).
  • People will be supported with special arrangements if their housing circumstances makes it more difficult to accommodate larger bins.
  • A chargeable garden waste collection service to be provided over 40 weeks of the year, covering the ‘growing season’ between March and November.
  • The garden waste collections to continue fortnightly, in line with the frequency of the proposed kerbside collection service
  • There would be a charge of £40 per year per container for garden waste collections. This equates to £2 per collection and is in line with the current additional capacity charge.

If adopted, the new service would reduce carbon emissions by 220,000kg a year and help to ensure that the service is more financially sustainable.

The new service would be in place for a minimum of three years.

During this time, the council would continue to look at ways it could continue to work with residents to reduce the amount of waste that we all produce and increase levels of reuse and recycling.

Cheshire West and Chester Council’s cabinet member for environment. highways and strategic transport, councillor Karen Shore said: “We would like to thank all those residents of the borough who took part in the Waste Strategy consultation.

"It was the largest response we have ever had and it is an area that people in our borough are very interested in.

“It is clear from the responses that people in Cheshire West and Chester share the view that we must do all we can to reduce the amount of waste we produce and recycle even more than we do already.

“People recognise that Climate Change presents us with challenges and it is clear from the responses that residents of the borough are ready to rise to these challenges.

“Bin collections is one of the areas where we have direct contact with every household in the borough. We are determined to offer our residents a modern service that responds to their needs.

“We have some tough decisions to make due to the financial pressures we face. We will make a decision which will provide the best long-term outcome for everyone in our borough.”

Cllr Shore added: “Our residents have told us that they want to continue to engage with the Council over the future for waste and recycling services in the borough and we will do this. As the world continues to change we will have to be prepared to change with it in the years to come and we will ensure that our residents are involved in this process every step of the way.”

The cabinet meeting will take place at 10am on Wednesday 9 June and can be viewed via the Council’s website: www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk