A SHAKE-UP in the way household refuse is collected is expected to radically boost South Lakeland's recycling effort, reports Beth Broomby.

Councillors hope moves to cut rubbish collections to once a fortnight will consign the district's throwaway culture to the scrap heap and help improve the environment.

Members of South Lakeland District Council's cabinet backed a scheme this week that will see traditional weekly waste collection rounds dispensed with. They will be made fortnightly instead and in between times householders will be encouraged to sort rubbish such as glass and paper into different containers for a separate collection every other week.

Councillors branded the plan a "massive cultural change" but residents groups have welcomed the move despite health concerns about storing household waste for up to a fortnight.

SLDC director of commercial services Mike Jones assured householders this week that the programme worked well elsewhere.

He said the seven-day collection timetable, introduced in the 1930s, was brought in because the life cycle of the bluebottle was ten days. "Waste containers have been vastly improved since then," he said.

SLDC's cabinet backed the idea in a bid to slash landfill mass and boost recycling - prompted by tough Government recycling targets.

Minister for the Environment Michael Meacher sent warning signals to SLDC last year in a letter stating the authority had not made sufficient progress towards meeting recycling targets.

And SLDC recently missed out on the last round of Government aid for recycling when a £600,000 grant bid to DEFRA failed.

Councillors backed the changes after hearing how authorities which fail to hit recycling targets could face financial penalties.

SLDC Director Designate of strategy and planning Sue Barton said the authority was running out of options and door after door had "slammed shut".

"We need to do more recycling than we are doingit is not going to be easy. It is going to be a massive change to the collection service."

Coun Bob Bolton called for the public to be properly informed. "This is going to be a massive culture change Some people won't understand what the change is all about. There are people with reading and writing difficulties that will need help."

Residents groups have welcomed the move - which will eventually be rolled out across the majority of the district.

Ambleside Tenants and Residents Committee Chairman Lydia Wenlock said: "It is something they should have done a long time ago but it needs to be resourced and researched properly. Even people with large families will manage because they will have to."

Chair of Cumbria Tenants and Residents Participation Forum Gwen Murfin said: "This is marvellous news and about time. We have obviously got a problem with waste and tenants and residents have been fighting for years for something to be done.

"Elderly people may find it difficult at first because many don't like change but we live in a changing world."

The authority set the recycling ball rolling in Kendal, Ulverston and Grange-over-Sands last year with the introduction of a kerbside waste paper collection scheme, boosting recycling from eight to 12 per cent.

Phase one of the new waste collection plan will begin in areas with kerbside collection already in place, eventually rolling out across the whole district bar remote rural areas.

l The full costs of the scheme have yet to be calculated but £185,000 has been earmarked to cover changes to vehicles and extra bins. The new system should see each household supplied with two 55-litre boxes for recyclables along with a 240-litre wheelie bin for green waste. Rem-

aining waste will be collected in smaller

180-litre containers.

January 10, 2003 09:00