Recycling one of the big issues in election countdown

1:48pm Thursday 24th April 2008

RECYCLING has been one of the most hotly debated topics in the Adver's pages over the last 12 months.

While the Conservative council points to its successes in reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill, other candidates say that more needs to be done.

Deputy Labour leader Fay Howard (Parks) said: "The Tories have failed on this issue. Scrapping the weekly waste collection has caused chaos.

"Due to the Conservatives' lack of planning they could cost taxpayers millions in fines, which could reach £3.5m in 2012, the equivalent of a five per cent increase in council tax.

"Labour will seek the introduction of a non-recyclable wheelie bin weekly waste collection service.

"We will introduce a glass and tin recycling scheme for Swindon's pubs, as well as a free recycling scheme for schools to highlight the importance of recycling to future generations.

"We will also improve street cleaning across the borough and target fly-tippers."

Lib Dem leader Stan Pajak (Eastcott) said: "The Liberal Democrats have led the way in Swindon and across the country with initiatives that support a better environment locally and globally.

"We will introduce free bottle bags throughout the year and reduce the high number of missed collections.

"We will look again at the town centre locations where wheelie bins are unsuitable for residents.

"We will provide more litter and dog mess bins and introduce a hotline to report rubbish dumping.

"We will ensure the council itself leads the way in recycling and energy usage and will ensure there are more graffiti-cleaning teams and use mobile surveillance cameras to catch culprits."

Coun Sinead Darker (Con, St Phillip) said: "Under the Conservatives, a full kerbside recycling service has been introduced, and the amount of household waste recycled has risen dramatically to more than 40 per cent.

"In the future, the Conservatives will ensure the smooth running of the weekly collection of tins, glass and paper.

"We will continue an efficient fortnightly collection of garden waste and plastic bottles.

"We will push for a fairer deal from the Labour Government, which has introduced a stealth tax on waste, costing Swindon residents £183,000 a year.

"All this is part of a comprehensive programme which puts environmental concerns at the top of the agenda."

Robert Feal-Martinez, Swindon UKIP chairman and St Margaret ward candidate, said: "Swindon, like all towns and cities in Europe, is being forced to recycle at a far greater sustainable rate due to EU directives. This is forcing up the costs which ultimately will hit council tax.

"We fully support the need for recycling but feel that shipping vast quantities of waste to China is damaging the environment unnecessarily.

"It seems odd that we are wanting supermarkets to reduce the amount of plastic bags and then the council insists on waste being in bin liners five times the size.

"Surely common sense should prevail. The shopping bags could be used to dispose of the waste, saving on these bin liners."

Michael Morton, independent candidate for Western ward, said: "I support a general policy of reduce, reuse and recycle.

"If there are still problems with the recycling issue the council should further educate people of the benefits this policy has, not just the fine the borough would have to pay but also the saving to the environment.

"We should encourage solar panel loans to provide housing energy. Also the council should look to expand to food waste with an anaerobic digester reducing our landfill."

David Cox, independent candidate for Central ward, did not supply any information on his policy regarding recycling.

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