Lincolnshire Residents May be Fined for Flouting Recycling Rules

Lincolnshire Residents May be Fined for Flouting Recycling Rules

North East Lincolnshire council will fine residents who don’t recycle correctly or who overfill their wheelie bin, when new fortnightly bin collections are introduced in November.

The new policy is intended to encourage people to recycle, who otherwise wouldn’t if there was no enforcement.

The enforcement process

If the council cabinet approves the proposed measures, penalties could be issued to residents who flout the rules from next month.

The council will take enforcement action in a few stages:

In November, the council will focus on preparing residents for the changes to their collection services, by providing them with recycling containers and information on how the new system will work.

In December, the council will start sending warning letters to residents who are not following the recycling rules or overfilling their bins.

From January, the council will issue a section 46 penalty notice as a form of more formal action to residents who still fail to comply with requirements. Section 46 of the Environment Act 1990 allows councils to issue fixed penalty notices to residents who fail to comply with a section 46 notice. The act allows councils to ask residents to get rid of their waste in a particular way, and creates an offence where there is no compliance with the request.

The council say...

The council say they understand that changing waste collection services to fortnightly will require them to communicate clearly with residents about how it will work and what is expected of them. Information will be given to residents about what waste will be collected, which container it will be collected from, what residents should do with any excessive waste, and when they should put waste out to be collected. They expect that if the new service runs smoothly, it should reduce the amount of waste that is generated and will increase the amount of waste that is recycled.

The new collection service will start on 6^th November, though confused residents say that they have received 2 different letters with two different start dates.

The council have encouraged residents to visit their website for updates and advice and information, including any changes in their collection days.