Rushcliffe Borough Council is currently carrying out a large-scale consultation exercise, to find what residents want in the recycling of glass bottles and jars. At present, bottle banks are provided in some parts of the the borough, and the Council has also been looking at the possibility of providing kerbside collection of glass at all homes.
Residents have been invited to visit www.rushcliffe.gov.uk/glass and fill in the survey themselves (you can do so now, if you so wish). Each borough councillor has been given 25 questionnaires and asked to talk to residents to elicit their views. The following is a summary of the surveys conducted by Debbie Boote in South Keyworth and by Sam Boote in North Keyworth:
- The vast majority of you already take your glass to bottle banks, usually several miles away.
- You usually visit the bottle bank monthly, but some of you go fortnightly or even weekly.
- About half of you make a special journey to the bottle bank, while others combine it with shopping trips.
- There is a lot of support for more convenient local bottle banks, but even more support for kerbside collection.
- Virtually all of you would use a kerbside scheme if it was provided.
- You have an average of about 10 bottles a week to dispose of. These are mostly of green or clear glass (in equal numbers) with only a few brown bottles.
- A majority of you think a kerbside scheme should operate fortnightly, though a sizeable minority would be happy with monthly collection.
- Most of you would prefer a small plastic box to be provided for kerbside collection, though there is some support for a small wheelie-bin.
- There are sharply polarised views on the cost of glass recycling. Around half of you would be prepared to see a small rise in council tax, while the other half are adamant that they already pay enough.
These results will be fed into the Council's internal decision-making process, and we can expect a decision on the way forward by the end of 2007.
