5:00pm Saturday 4th July 2009
By Matt Smith
BINMEN are set to be armed with computers to spy on the rubbish habits of Southampton residents.
They will use handheld devices to log the details of householders who leave out their bins on the wrong day, fail to recycle properly, or put out too much rubbish.
Repeat offenders will get a knock on the door from the council’s bin police who will point out what they are doing wrong.
If they still persist in breaking the rules they will be issued with a letter warning them they face a £100 fixed penalty fine under the Environmental Protection Act.
And as revealed by the Daily Echo traffic wardens will soon be handed the job of enforcing such enviro-crime.
They will be given the extra powers as they become part of an expanded 55-strong city patrol force dubbed stormtroopers.
Tory council leaders say the £179,000 computer system will make the waste service run better and save cash but critics fear it could also pave the way for new bin taxes.
Unions leaders have branded it a waste of money and want extra payments for drivers who will have to operate the handheld devices on the city’s 34 dustcarts.
Crews will have access to details of their round, traffic updates and information on each house, such as any special requirements and previous missed bins.
They will log incidents of damaged or contaminated bins and those not put out to defend complaints about missed collections.
Doretta Cocks from Chandler’s Ford, who founded the Campaign for Weekly Waste Collection, said: “I can think of no other reason to bring this in unless they intend to charge residents. The number of people who deliberately contaminate bins is quite small.
“It seems an awful lot of expense if they don’t plan to recoup it somewhere. If it’s not exactly Big Brother now it has the potential to be.”
John Early, a convenor with the council’s branch of the Unite union, said: “We’ve been ensured it’s purely a management tool. But it’s going to take the drivers time to get used to it. I think the residents will be more upset by it. I personally think it’s a waste of taxpayers’ money.”
The council claims the GPS-based “Waste Collector Live” system, manufactured by Bartec Systems and used by 16 other authorities, will deliver a “more efficient”
service and help it respond to issues more quickly.
They insist there will be no microchips put in bins and deny the system amounted to “spying on people”.
Head of waste Andrew Trayer said: “The vast majority of the population will be invisible to this system. This is not Big Brother.”
And while those who contaminate bins or leave them cluttering pavements would be targeted they would still get “plenty of chances” to change their ways.
Tory council leaders, who are facing a £9.6m budget hole next year and have already drawn up plans to save £1.5m and axe 31 jobs, reckon the Bartec system will save the council £50,000 a year.
The Government’s pay-as-you-throw plans were dealt a blow earlier this year when no council volunteered to take part in its trials. Local authorities would have been given powers to give rebates to those producing the least waste and slap fines of up to £50 on those who don’t recycle enough.
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