Thousands sign petition in reaction to Kirklees Council’s recycling policy

A petition has been set up in reaction to Kirklees Council’s recycling policy.
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It calls on the authority to broaden what can be recycled in its green bins as part of its contract with waste operator Suez.

The campaign, created by Liversedge resident Rachael Thomas on the website 38degrees, had received more than 3,000 signatures.

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It comes at a time when the council’s policy of impounding green bins from residents who contaminate recycling with “illegal” waste has made national headlines.

The council has been tasked by the government to improve its lacklustre recycling rate which, at 27%, falls well below the national average of 45%.

In her petition entitled ‘Recycling in Kirklees’ Rachael Thomas calls for a review of items that can be placed in green bins for recycling purposes.

She writes: “As it stands only four types of recyclable packaging (paper, plastic bottles, clean tins/cans and empty aerosols) can be recycled within Kirklees by their chosen partner Suez.

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“This is diabolical compared to other councils in the vicinity – e.g. Calderdale allow 15 common items, and Wakefield 16 recyclable products.”

Cou Lisa Holmes (Con, Liversedge and Gomersal), said it was time for the council to re-think its “knee-jerk” policy.

After first being rolled out in south Kirklees, resulting in the seizure of 1,341 bins over a six-week period, it has now been introduced in the north of the borough.

The council has reported success with the project.

Coun Holmes commented: “This may have been a knee-jerk reaction after someone asked ‘What can we do?’. They’ve remembered the policy and have resurrected it. They’d never used it and then they pull it out of the drawer in 2019 and, all of a sudden, start doing all this.”

Rachael Thomas’s petition can be found here.