Rotherham residents to be charged for garden waste collections

In a shake up of kerbside waste collection services, set to be approved by Rotherham Council later this month, residents who want their garden waste collected will have to pay £39 a year for 11 monthly collections.

REVEALED: Sheffield's burglary hotspots - is your area in the top 10?The first households to sign up will get a 15-month service for the price of 12 running from October 2018 until January 2020.

CRIME: Man quizzed over Sheffield shooting released by policeUnder the proposed changes, residents will also be able to recycle plastic for the first time.

POLICE: Fiancée of murdered Sheffield man set to appeal for informationThe 240 litre black waste bin currently provided to households will be used for the recycling of glass, plastics and metals.

The green garden waste bins currently used will be for recycling paper and card.

A new, smaller, 180 litre bin will be provided to all households for non-recyclable rubbish and those who sign up for the garden waste service will receive a brown bin.

The proposals are expected to improve Rotherham's recycling rate and get it closer to the Government’s 50 per cent target, whilst saving the council around £500,000 a year.

Damien Wilson, Rotherham Council’s Strategic Director for Regeneration and Environment, said: "I am pleased that we had such a high response to our consultation and that we have been able to incorporate many of the changes that people asked us to do. This includes kerbside plastic recycling and ensuring we reuse the old bins where we can.

"If these plans are approved by the council’s cabinet, every household will overall have more space in their bins than they currently have and recycling will be made easier."

He added: "These will be the biggest changes to the way that household waste is collected in Rotherham for a number of years, but residents don’t need to worry - over Spring and Summer nothing will alter, and you should continue to put your bins and recycling out as normal.

"As we get later in the year we will be setting out clearly how the changes affect each household, and what you need to do if you want to subscribe to the new garden waste service.

"Like every council across the country we are under increasing pressure to look at how we deliver our waste services. We need to ensure they are value for money as well as making sure they achieve high levels of recycling, and that is what we are trying to do."

General waste will be collected every two weeks, with cans, bottles and plastics collected one a month and cardboard and paper once a month.