Garden Waste Scheme Gets Vote of Confidence

7.50.00pm GMT Sun 10th Feb 2008

A n overwhelming vote of confidence in the council's garden waste scheme was revealed in a survey of Milton Keynes residents this month. Of those surveyed, 98 per cent were full of praise for the scheme and the vast majority believed the service to be good value for money. Previously three-quarters of people would dispose of their garden waste by taking a car trip to the community recycling centre.

Once the garden waste is collected, it is taken to local farms where it is allowed to decompose and is used as organic compost on farm land. The service, which covers more than 30,000 homes, will cost £16 this year, up just £1 on last year.

Liberal Democrat Councillor Douglas McCall, cabinet member responsible for the environment, said: "We are delighted that the survey shows that our users think so highly of this scheme. I am pleased that we have been able to minimise any rise in the cost of the service that our customers tell us is good value for money. The garden waste scheme has made a major contribution to the Council being able to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill, despite having a growing population. And the number of car trips to community recycling centres has dropped dramatically, which is a good thing both for road congestion and the impact of carbon dioxide emissions on the climate."

Residents interested in joining the garden waste collection scheme (which runs from March to November) can telephone 01908 25 26 66 or visit the Council's website on www.milton-keynes.gov.uk/recycling/