Residents’ views on future of rubbish collections in Merseyside needed

Oct 13 2010 by Marc Waddington, Heswall News

WASTE bosses are to ask Wirral residents about the future of rubbish collections in the face of rising recycling targets.

Merseyside waste disposal authority (MWDA) said it had to be aware of people’s views when shaping its strategy for the future.

MWDA director Carl Beer said: “We need to ensure that we maximise the use of the natural resources we produce as a society. The types of waste being produced and the way in which waste is managed and controlled is changing rapidly.

“We know that landfill costs continue to rise so we need to ensure we continue to work towards diverting as much as we can from landfills, because we also know that budgets are likely to shrink too.

“It’s vital that our plans for waste management are appropriate to the challenges ahead but provide waste management services of a high quality that offer good value for money and take account of the environmental, economic and social benefits of waste management.”

The consultation will start with canvassing the views of 3,000 Merseyside residents from across the five districts – Wirral Council, Knowsley, Liverpool, St Helens and Sefton – to identify the best ways forward in delivering sustainable waste management over the next 20 years.

The Partnership is responsible for the total management of waste, which equates to 767,000 tonnes, generated each year by 1.6 million Merseyside residents. MWDA also manages 14 household waste recycling centres across the region, four waste transfer stations and the Materials Recovery Facility at Bidston .

Researchers started to doorstep residents this week and will continue for four weeks.

In late October and November, there will be a number of “Don’t Waste Your Say” roadshows, including one in Wirral on November 4.

For more information, visit www.merseysidewda.gov.uk