Councils Criticise Imminent Changes To Waste Collection
Blue, yellow and green tank for separate garbage collection against bacground with green plants, waste recycling and conservation of the environment concept

Plans to introduce new waste collection policies across England have been heavily criticised by council leaders, the BBC news website reports. The government is expected to shortly introduce changes that are intended to make waste and recycling collections more uniform and consistent.

Under the new plans, councils will be required to separately collect six different categories of recyclable waste. The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) claim that the reforms will make it easier for households and businesses to manage their waste and will boost recycling rates in the UK.

A statement on the government website explains that: “Local authorities (LAs) will be mandated to collect a consistent range of dry materials from households across all localities in England, a weekly separate food waste collection and garden waste collection.”

However, in reality, the time and effort required to sort and collect food and garden waste, and metal, plastic, paper, and cardboard, has been described by councils as ‘unworkable.’ 

Currently, English councils have their own mandate for waste collection policies, which are not consistent across all local authority areas.

It is estimated that implementing the changes will cost each council £465m a year at a time when council budgets are already under severe pressure. Some councils have also raised concerns that the extra rules will backfire and discourage people from sorting out their recycling. 

Sarah Nelmes, the leader of Three Rivers District Council in Hertfordshire, told the BBC: “Our residents do the recycling, we just make it easy for them. If we change the rules, some people just won’t bother. If I had to have another three boxes, would I recycle?”

She added: “I’m concerned it will be chaos because everybody will be trying to do the same thing at the same time. If every council in the country is having to buy different bins, that’s not going to work great.” She also said that councils would have to buy extra bin lorries and expand waste recycling depots to cope with the extra pressure. 

Peter Fleming, the Conservative leader of Sevenoaks District Council in Kent, voiced fears that the extra traffic caused by more bin lorries on the road would increase pollution and erosion on the roads. 

He told the BBC: “In a place like mine, where the majority of people don’t live in the towns, why should we be running 26-tonne diesel vehicles all over the countryside to pick up Mrs Miggins’s jam jar, or a bit of peeling from her potatoes?”

“This does feel like some kind of zealot in Defra pushing this through. And I’m not sure they’ll achieve the environmental outcomes they’re looking for.”

A Defra spokesperson said that a public consultation had been carried out on the proposed changes, and that they are designed to benefit the UK recycling industry. Under the reforms, food waste is expected to be collected weekly and garden waste collection will be free of charge. 

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MATT BEVERLEY

A time served Mechanical engineer Matt’s background includes many high-profile projects within the Automotive Industry: The Rolls Royce Phantom, Rolls Royce Cullinan, Spyker Le-Mans racing teams, Bentley, Aston Martin, and Airbus A380. This history and knowledge of complex manufacturing and engineering projects have been transferred and further developed into the bulk material handling sector. Matt has work in Europe, North America, Indonesia, and China

He joined the bulk solids and bulk handling industry in 2019 as Managing Director of Hoverdale UK Ltd and subsequently completed a Management buyout in July 2020. The business has grown yearly, increased employment, its customer base, and worldwide reputation, and disrupted the market with groundbreaking innovative technology. Since Matt took over Hoverdale, the company has filed four patents for innovation; one was granted in 2023 for a design to improve bulk handling. The success had been driven by delivering tailored solutions to the waste recycling sectors that keep material flowing out and money flowing in.

Awards Include

  • 2024 – Shapa company of the Year
  • 2024- Shapa Innovation in Technology
  • 2024- MHEA Engineer of the year
  • 2021 – MHEA Innovation of the year
  • 2021- IMechE Innovation award

Current Positions Include.

  • Group Chairman Hoverdale UK Ltd
  • President (MHEA) Material Handling Engineers Association
  • Vice Chairman: IMechE Bulk Material Handling Committee
  • Council Member: (SHAPA) Solids Handling & Particle Association
  • Member: Chartered Management Institute

Matt has been happily married to Julie for 22 years and has 4 children, 3 of which are involved within the Hoverdale group of companies. He is an RFU level 2 qualified coach and referee having been in several head coaching roles at various age groups from under 6’s to adults for his local team Nuneaton RFC. He believes in the core values that rugby teaches of Teamwork, Respect, Enjoyment, Discipline, Sportsmanship and try’s to carry this through in his day to day business activities. He is passionate at brining the next generation of young, diverse engineers into the sector through promotion of apprenticeship scheme and further education routes.

DAVID BARTER

David is an experienced leader, with a background covering Operations, eCommerce, Finance, Compliance, HR and IT. His career spans Banking, Retail and Engineering, spending the majority of his career working for ALDI as they grew to become 4th largest supermarket in the UK, including seven years on their UK board as Managing Director of IT and eCommerce.

David joined Hoverdale’s Senior Management Team in 2023 to seek a fresh challenge in a completely different industry sector. He has applied his approach to Process Improvement, Efficiency, Customer Service and Teamwork to great effect during Hoverdale’s sustained growth.

Married to Jane, with three adult sons between them, David volunteers on the board of the Nottingham Playhouse theatre as well as his local rugby and football clubs. Any spare time he spends enjoying walks with their Golden Retriever, Buzz, who is also regularly seen in the Hoverdale office.

BEN DUCHESNE

Ben is a time serviced field service engineer in the busy waste and recycling sector, who’s career moved into to managing service teams and beyond. Originally beginning his career with a HGV repair and maintenance apprenticeship with IVECO, from there travelling and working in multiple countries moving towards waste processing shredders.

Ben joined the Hoverdale team in September 2024 seeking to apply his extensive knowledge to a new area. His values and ethics fit perfectly within the Hoverdale ethos.

He is happily married to Kristina, with 4 wonderful young children; 14, 11, 8 and 5. We the children he doesn’t get much spare time. He is a family man, who enjoys spending as much time with them as possible.