Brent Council leader Muhammed Butt responds to 3422 signature blue bag petition

 Local resident Sheila Darr is not giving up her struggle to get Brent Council to ditch its blue bag recycling scheme. Sheila addressed Brent Council in November on the problems with the scheme LINK and was back at Brent Cabinet this morning to present a petition from more than 3,000 residents.

Sheila, like many residents, supports reycling but thinks the scheme is just not fite for purpose.

Cllr Krupa Sheth was away so it was left to Brent Council leader Muhammed Butt to respond.

Petition presentation speech

You are all aware of the 3422 signatures petitioning the council to Cancel the blue bin bags and return to the single blue bin for recycling. Mainly Due to the poor quality of the blue bag and their inefficiency to improve OR ENCOURAGE recycling.  The exact wording of the Petition is before you.

 

The Blue Bin Bag Scheme is not working – “REPLACE IT”.

  

The petition was started by a resident due to the anxiety of her elderly parents. They become concerned about putting the wrong things in the wrong bin/bag and the consequences of not having their bin/bag collected.

 

I WILL COVER Council ASSISTED bin services later.

 

This Blue Bag scheme is not a new initiative, it is AN UNWORKABLE extension of the existing blue bin scheme, WHICH WAS WORKING, to make it look clever.

 

On to GDPR. The bags are easy pickings for thieves looking to steal personal Data.   Identity FRAUD IS RIFE AND ONE OF THE MOST INCREASING CRIMES RECORDED ON THE POLICE REGISTER. I suspect someone will say, use a shredder then put into the bag.  Most people don’t have access to a shredder, JUNK MAIL IS ALMOST, ALWAYS, DISCARDED WITHOUT OPENING. 

 

Will COUNCIL assisted services offer to tear up junk mail for the elderly and less abled? Shredded paper will make A bigger mess when it flys out of the bag, as can be seen with the contents and the blue bags littering the streets of BRENT. 

 

In any event, Is the Council aware that shredded paper cannot be recycled, but is STILL being put into the bags and collected by the bin men?

 

Residents will have more paper/cardboard than can be recycled under the blue bag scheme.   This will encourage Fly tipping as people will be unable to store this AND IT will affect the entire borough. 

 

It is absolutely clear that the bag scheme is strongly opposed to by the residents. The Council must agree that this Bag scheme is not working and an alternative must be found.   I see from the Brent website that  “There is a review expected later in the year”.  The Council needs to bring this back to the table immediately for discussion and FACTOR In feedback from residents.

 

Are the Council aware of the schemes that are being ran in other boroughs?  What research has been done in using the templates of boroughs that are successful, …..by successful I mean having a lot of support from the residents AS THAT IS THE ONLY WAY TO save money and improve recycling targets.

 

Have the Council considered split bins using the existing Blue Bins, ADDING removable dividers?  WHY CAN we NOT use the existing blue bins for cardboard and paper and use a smaller bin for tins/glass/plastic etc?

 

I want to share with you what the residents in your borough are saying.  The following are random comments, taken from the Next Door platform.

 

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I insist on recycling, but this bag is ridiculous.  Once it’s full, WHICH IT BECOMES UNDER A week what do I do with the rest of my cardboard? I’ve had to put it in the grey bin. Which I didn’t want to do.

 

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I have been putting my cardboard in the bag and it still hasn’t been collected.  A neighbour told me IF it HAS any stains or is wet, IT IS CONTAMINATED AND needs to go into the grey bin. So I did that, AND MY grey bin has not been collected.

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Someone stole my bag and dumped the contents in the corner of the street.  I am NOW TERRIFIED that IF there IS ANYTHING with MY NAME AND ADDRESS on it and the littering team find it, I WILL BE FINED, THIS HAPPENED TO  my neighbour and she was fined £400,

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Anyone know a Mr K S in Clarendon Gdns, HA9? If so, I've got half his recycling out of the dreadful blue bag on my driveway following the bin collection this morning. Mr S, do you want it back?

 

 

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Due to my disabilities, I can’t carry my bag once its full, and it always is, or have the strength to break down all the cardboard boxes so they fit into the bag. I have to wait for my husband to come home or ask my neighbour in his 80's  to help. The bin men left cardboard in the bottom of the bag, IT rained in so it's now all soggy, wet AND EVEN HEAVIER.

 

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We have assisted collection because of our age, THE BIN MEN HATE HAVING TO EMPTY THE BAG AND IT SHOWS.  THEY constantly leave my bin and bag IN DISARAY.  All they have to do is walk five more steps. I have complained many times. What can I do!

 

 

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The BIN MEN have to lift these bags to empty them. How long will it be before claims start flooding in for damaged backs?. I saw bin men dragging the bags to the bin lorry and then lifting them up before emptying them with difficulty, and the COUNCIL expect householders to take them IN AND OUT OF their homes…..

 

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I REPEAT the present blue bag scheme is not working.

“REPLACE IT”.

 

Muhammed Butt's reponse

 

Monday is 'Blue Bag Day' at Brent Council as 3,422 signature petition presented

 Recent storms have probably not helped the case for the blue bags introduced by Brent Council to improve recycling rates. Some residents report soaked cardboard (which once wet cannot be recycled) and bags blown away in  recent high winds.

On Monday a petition signed by 3,422 residents will be presented to the Cabinet and Cllr Krupa Sheth, lead member for the Environment, will respond.

The petition:

We the undersigned petition the council to cancel the blue bin bags and return to the single blue bin for recycling.

 

The blue bin bags are made of poor quality. The stitching is already coming apart and the velcro is of such poor quality it does not stick.

 

The bags cannot be left out in the rain as they will fill with water without the lid being stuck on properly.

In high winds, the bags will fly on to the roads causing hazard for vehicles and pedestrians.

 

The bags cannot be expected to be stored in peoples homes.

 

Earlier in the changeover to the new system a petition was launched on the Change website that collected 2,575 signatures,

 

In Brent the council wants to change the recycling position from paper being collected once a week, from a paper and glass bin, to collecting paper on a fortnightly basis. Furthermore, the paper will only be collected from a bag which is far smaller than the existing bin.

It will not be remotely feasible to keep up with regular deliveries or even receipt of a daily newspaper. Residents will have more paper/cardboard than can be recycled under this new system. 

If this is done, it will cause substantial inconvenience for residents due to the infrequent collection. This will encourage dumping as people will be unable to store their paper. This will affect the entirety of the borough. 

Brent needs to ensure the collection of paper is once a week and a bin is provided for this purpose.

 

Brent Council is due to implement a trial of a third bin for paper and cardboard in the Autumn after the first year of the blue bag scheme.

The Cabinet Meeting will be held at 10am on Monday in the Conference Hall. The petition is early on the Agenda. The public can attend in person or on line. LINK

Brent is NOT ditching the blue bags

There was a flurry of activity and some pretty pithy comments on Next Door earlier today when a resident posted a copy of a letter that seemed to suggest that the blue bag for the collection of cardboard and paper was to be ditched by Brent Council and mixed recycling re-introduced.

Cllr Georgiou checked it out and Brent Council confirmed it just referred to one specific street because of particular practical collection difficulties.

The 3,400 blue bag petition is due to be presented at Brent Cabinet on January 16th 2024.

Brent Council responds to residents' 'Blue Bag Blues'

 

A selection from many posts on Next Door

After seeing many posts like those above, as well as Tweets and Facebook posts I wrote to Brent Council:

Social media is awash with complaints about blue bins being rejected, petitions and protest meetings. Someone said Veolia workers were fed-up with the system and deliberately rejecting some bins as a protest.


Is there any message that the Council would like published re what appear to be teething problems?

 

Brent Council's response:

 

Councillor Krupa Sheth, Cabinet Member for Environment, Infrastructure, and Climate Action, said:

 

Whilst it is too early to know the full picture of how the changes have affected recycling rates, our trial of over 5,000 properties last year showed an increase in recycling, which is better for the environment and our planet.

 

We have also seen a 50% increase in the last fortnight in the amount of cardboard and paper recycling compared to the first two weeks of October, showing that compliance is increasing as residents get used to the changes to how their recycling is collected.

Veolia fully supports the service changes and their staff are trained to reject bins that have incorrect items in them, we do this so that recycling doesn't get rejected as this would be worse for the environment.  

Thank you to all residents who are separating their paper and cardboard. More information is available on the council's website, where you can also order a replacement blue sack.