Refuse warning to Sidmouth and Ottery

A CRACKDOWN on landfill refuse will see Sidmouth and Ottery residents’ rubbish left on their doorsteps if it’s not contained within wheelie bins or gull-sacks.

East Devon District Council (EDDC) will enforce a policy to ignore side-waste and excessively loaded receptacles – and says a period of goodwill on the issue is over.

The authority wants to increase its waste recycling rate – now more than 50 per cent.

From Today (Tuesday), no side-waste will be collected and over-filled wheelie bins won’t be emptied. Stickers will be slapped on each offending item explaining why they haven’t been taken away.

Repeat offenders face enforcement action.

“This may sound like a carrot and stick approach – but it is very much more carrot than stick,” said Councillor Iain Chubb, EDDC’s cabinet member for environment.

“If we were to continue accepting side waste, we’d only be encouraging people to send too many items to landfill.”

Refuse being sent to landfill in East Devon has been cut by 33 per cent. The council wants residents to limit the waste they send to landfill by making sure items fit into grey wheelie bins or gull-proof sacks emptied every fortnight.

“We’d like to thank the many residents who are making the most of the recycling services on offer and fitting all their waste into the containers provided, with the lid closed,” said an EDDC spokesman.

“But we do still see over-filled bins or waste in black bags beside them.”

He added EDDC cannot continue to collect side-waste as escaped litter and rubbish is unsightly and expensive to clear up, landfill costs increase every year and the process produces harmful gasses in the atmosphere.

The policy to only collect landfill waste contained in a wheelie bin or gull-proof sack has been in force for years - but hadn’t been strictly enforced while new recycling collections were introduced.

Anyone struggling with household waste can contact EDDC on 01395 571515.