A plastic-free campaigner from Hackney has welcomed plans by the council to to boost recycling by transitioning from weekly to fortnightly rubbish collections.

Hackney Council introduced the changes after realising that 50 per cent of rubbish being put in black bins could be recycled. Thirteen other London boroughs have recently introduced fortnightly waste collections.

Bettina Maidment, who runs Plastic Free Hackney, told Eastlondonlines: “I think it’s a brilliant idea, currently so much recyclable waste is discarded, fortnightly residual waste collections have shown to drive up recycling – it seems like a no-brainer!

“The concern that fortnightly collections will smell or attract vermin is easily solved by composting food waste through the blue bins, something we should all be doing as the food can be turned into energy and fertilizer plus is so much cheaper to dispose of – £38 per ton vs £89 for black bag waste – money that we pay through our council tax”. 

The council said: “Hackney residents have already made great strides in boosting the amount of waste they recycle.”

Jon Burke, a councillor and Hackney Council cabinet member with responsibility for the environment, said: “We recently passed a motion on climate emergency which commits the council to achieve zero emissions as a council by 2040.” 

He also added that the move would help the council to achieve its ambitions for 2030 and 2040 visions through a significant increase in recycling while still ensuring that limited wastes getting into the incinerators which are there for industrial wastes.  

For more information visit: https://t.co/xZ5osPuldg?amp=1 

Twitter: @plasticfreehkny