Green light for recycling (From This is Hampshire)

Green light for recycling

4:00pm Wednesday 15th February 2012 in News By Simon Moss

Green light for recycling

AN INITIATIVE to collect more than a thousand tons of garden waste from households in Basingstoke and Deane is under way for another year.

The borough council has launched its 2012 green garden waste collection service, which last year was used by more than 4,000 people.

The fortnightly collections, which began on February 6, will run until the week of December 21, allowing residents to leave lawn trimmings and other materials in bags outside their homes.

These are collected by council staff, and the material is composted locally to produce bags of Pro-Grow, an organic soil conditioner. Last year, one thousand tons of garden waste was sent for composting.

This is the sixth year the service has been running, and Councillor Elaine Still, Cabinet member for the environment, said she hopes even more people will get involved in the green scheme this year.

“The green garden waste collection service is environmentally-friendly and a convenient and easy way to recycle your garden waste,” she said.

“The improvements to the service mean that residents are getting more collected for their money, which I hope will encourage more residents to sign up to make sure this waste is recycled and not put in their grey bins.”

The collections will no longer be held on a Saturday, but residents will be given a specific weekday to put out their garden waste depending on which part of the borough they live in.

The service costs £28 for the year, including two free sacks, while an extra bag can be provided for another £10.

There will be more collections than in previous years, with 23 taking place.

For more information, you can visit basingstoke.gov.uk/go/greenwaste or call 01256 844844.