GARDENERS in Worcester could soon have the option of paying for a new wheelie bin service to take away their green waste.

Members of Worcester City Council are pushing for the authority to introduce a garden waste collection service.

The waste would be collected in special wheelie bins and taken away to be turned into compost.

Malvern Hills District Council is also considering introducing wheelie bins for its existing green garden waste service.

Wychavon District Council already offers householders an optional fortnightly collection service for hedge and lawn clippings for an annual fee of £30.

A cross-party working group set up by Worcester City Council to examine waste collection is to recommend the council introduce a similar service to prevent people from having to take their garden waste to household recycling sites. Working party member Paul Denham said: “It would be an ‘opt-in’ system of some sort. Maybe people would pay a flat rate if they wanted the service or some councils charge per bag they collect. The idea would be that there would be no extra cost to the council.”

Meanwhile, Malvern Hills District Council is considering replacing its green garden waste sack service with a new wheeled bin service for a nine- month period each year starting from next spring.

The council currently charges householders for green waste sacks and collects an estimated 520 tonnes of garden waste a year which goes into landfill at Throckmorton.

Members of the council’s executive committee, who meet on Tuesday, October 28, are being recommended to approve the new service.

A report by the Waste Management Board says people will be provided with a 240- litre wheeled bin – about the same capacity as four green waste sacks – which will be collected every fortnight. People will pay £60 a year – 17 per cent cheaper than buying the equivalent number of green sacks.

A report suggests about 3,000 households could take up the service and says the service will be self-funding.

BID TO INCREASE ITEMS FOR RECYCLING

Worcester City Council’s working group is also recommending the city puts pressure on Worcestershire County Council to increase the range of items people can put in their wheelie bins for recycling.

The county’s new sorting plant for recycleables – which is due to open at Norton in September – will have the capability to deal with many items of household rubbish which currently cannot be recycled locally, including thick cardboard,Tetra-paks, yoghurt pots, margarine tubs and other types of recycleable plastic.

However, the county council has yet to decide whether to support such a move, which it says would come at an extra cost.

The working group will discuss a range of other issues before compiling its final report – including dealing with food waste, improving collections from terraced streets, recycling of trade waste, decorative stickers for wheelie bins, better advertising of bank holiday collection times and the relaxation of rules applying to larger households.

The group’s recommendations will eventually go before the city’s ruling Tory cabinet for a final decision.