Luton's brown bin debate: Have your say on charges for garden waste collection

A consultation (see here) is already underway on the proposals, which the council believes could net an extra £300,000 in annual income under a £35 yearly charge.

There is no legal obligation on local authorities to provide a disposal service for garden waste,

And faced with "significant financial pressures" from the loss of Luton Airport revenue due to Covid-19, the council is looking at charges.

But one man told Luton Today that many residents would end up dumping their garden clippings in their black bins if free collections ended.

He said: "People will likely hide their garden waste in their black bins, and it will end up in landfill. This could increase costs to the council, as they will pay more landfill tax because of higher tonnes of waste.

"It will increase methane emissions as all the green waste rots below ground in a landfill site, instead of being composted in an oxygenated environment within a composting facility.

"Methane is 26 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than the carbon dioxide that emerges from composting.

"It could cause conflict between residents and the council because they've put the wrong things in the bin, i.e. garden clippings - making worse the problem of stinking, uncollected rubbish in the street."

Councillor David Franks, leader of the Liberal Democrats opposition group on the council, said: "We opposed the scheme at the budget meeting, when they said they were going to charge £35 a year for the service and would raise £300,000. Do the sums, this means they expect to be emptying 8,500 bins a fortnight when the charge comes in.

"They are currently emptying around 45,000. When we asked where they thought these other 37,000 brown bins worth of garden waste would end up, they told us people would take it to the council tip.

"I don’t know which planet these Labour councillors are living on but it’s not the same one as most of us.

"Some of this garden waste will be put in people’s black bins, end up in landfill and cost the council more than £90 a tonne in landfill tax. Some of it will be fly-tipped, cost a fortune to clear up and make the town look like a dump whilst we wait for council clearance.

"It is a mad scheme and we hope the results of the consultation exercise will tell them that. Not that they usually take much notice of consultation responses.”

Luton Borough Council has pledged to be carbon neutral by 2040 and insists these proposals are not in conflict with its green ambitions.

A council spokesman said: "Due to the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on London Luton Airport, which helps the council fund a wide range of services, the council is regrettably having to make a series of cuts to services.

"Where we have to do this, we are consulting with residents to gauge their views so that together we can ensure any impacts are minimised.

"We appreciate that for 20,000 residents in the town who do not have gardens, the current service is one they do not use and the intention is to ask those who wish to take advantage of this non-statutory service, to pay an annual fee.

"These changes should enhance Luton’s environmental credentials. They will decrease energy spent on unnecessary collections and empower residents to compost material for use in their own gardens. The council already runs a scheme whereby residents can buy composters at a subsidised price and anyone wishing to take advantage of this will be able to do so.

"For those who might still wish to take green waste to the tidy tips the material will be disposed of, free of charge, in an environmentally friendly manner.

"In other authorities where such schemes already operate, the overwhelming majority have reacted in a positive and responsible manner. We are confident that Luton’s residents will see the proposal in the same light.

"We hope that as many people as possible will read the full details of the proposal and engage with the survey so that we can better understand views across the town."

The consultation ends on October 25.