Ben Bradley MP backs new plans that could see weekly bin collections restored

In recent years as waste collection services from councils have reduced.

As a councillor in Ashfield prior to the 2017 general election, the council even reduced the size of everyone’s bins.

Michael Gove MP, the Environment Secretary, has put forward plans for the Government to intervene and fund weekly collections again, which I know will be a popular approach.

At the same time he plans to fund that improvement by making producers, not taxpayers, responsible for the amount of waste and packaging on their products.

Many of us would like to see less packaging on our food, and ensure it’s fully recyclable.

Why should council tax payers have to fund excess food packaging when they can’t control what packaging it comes in?

Business will contribute to waste removal and recycling, giving them a genuine incentive to improve and be innovative about how they package their products, which will be a big boost for our environment.

These plans, which are part of the new Environment Bill that will come forward in the second part of this Parliament – before 2022 – and will also include a can and bottle return scheme that means you can get money refunded for returning cans and bottles back to the producer for recycling.

This is good for your wallet and also for communities trying to reduce littering.

Why chuck a bottle on the floor when you can get paid to return it?

All of the polling across Mansfield and the whole UK shows that people want to care for the environment and recycle more.

But we have busy lives and so we have to ensure that these things are easy for people to do.

I welcome these announcements from Government that can really help us move away from being a ‘throw-away’ society.

The proposals are currently out for consultation and I look forward to hearing the response.