That should, of course, be one or two bags.

Take Kings Hedges Ward in the north of the city, for example, dominated by housing estates and with few of your Oxbridge stereotypes. This was a Labour stronghold before we switched to alternate weekly collections: now all its city councillors are Lib Dems. That’s down to the hard work of the local Lib Dem team – but if the people of Kings Hedges thought we’d screwed up their bins in 2005, I don’t think they’d be too ready to vote for us.

Next time you’re in Cambridge, try taking a trip away from the colleges and the punting, and see how the rest of Cambridge lives. You’ll find it’s not so different from the rest of the country.

I agree with the original article – it can be done as long as time and effort is put into planning, consultation on detail and explanation.

It is particularly timely because we are in the build up at present for a further switch in November this year, from the black and blue box recyclables collections to a third wheelie bin for dry recyclables (which will be dark blue, so far the most publicly discussed aspect of the change).

The change has been driven by a number of factors. A survey of residents showed a large number wanting to recycle more than the boxes allow; many boxes overflowing, leading to increased street litter problems; and developments in waste sorting technology which make feasible today what could not be done when we started kerbside recycling early in the present decade under Iain’s predecessor.

I make a point not to respond to anonymous internet posters. If something is valid there is no reason to hide in that way on matters like this. They rarely get their facts right either.

The new arrangements will also add cardboard drinks containers (“Tetrapaks”) to the doorstep recycling portfolio and allow householders to recycle cardboard instead of composting it. We hope to extend the range of plastics recycled too.

The blue bin contents will go for sorting to a Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) under a contract currently being let. This will have to be a modern MRF because we continue to be determined to recycle glass and sort it by colour. Weare working with other district councils in Cambridgeshire to reduce procurement costs.

The biggest issue this time is to identify about 7,500 households with insufficient space or access for another wheelie bin. They will retain their boxes though they will be able to use the black and blue ones interchangeably. The box contents will go in the co-mingled collection and not be sorted at the kerbside as at present.

The other problem is that local government finances are even tighter now than in 2005 so we will have to work harder with fewer resources. The “Cambridge Matters” magazine that Iain referred to will also be a key part of the information flow to help residents with the change.

Colin Rosenstiel
Executive Councillor for Waste and Environmental Services (Iain’s successor)

You were also lucky to be able to offer an ‘extra dimension’ in collecting plastic waste. Where plastics are already part of the weekly deal an authority would not have this bait to dangle.

In Milton Keynes by the way we dont have bin collections at all.

That is, we dont have wheely bins. Residents put out waste in colour-coded sacks (broken glass in blue boxes) which the weekly collection crews toss directly into appropriate compartments of the lorry. Tipping wheely bins into a lorry and returning them to their doorsteps really slows things down.

Out in the rest of the world there is sadly a greater degree of hostility.