BASILDON councillors have agreed to consult with residents on the remaining areas of household waste collection in order to meet the borough's recycling and climate change targets, following the national adoption of the Environment Act 2021.

Members of the Leisure and Environment Committee met last night (Tuesday, 8 March) and agreed to consult with residents this summer around the way Basildon manages residual (black sack) and bulky waste items. This is in addition to a previous agreement to consult with residents on the best way to maximise the level and type of recycling collected from the Borough.

Members also approved the communications plan for introducing separate food and garden waste services and have asked the cross-party Waste Member working group to review and develop a Waste and Recycling Collection Policy. Recommendations and a draft policy will be reported back to the committee at a future meeting prior to adoption.

Chairman of the Leisure and Environment Committee Cllr Craig Rimmer said: "At present on average a staggering 988kg of waste is produced per household. That's the weight of a car.

"If we are to meet our carbon net-zero objectives and our target of a 65% recycling rate by 2035 we must start to act now, and we will need the support of every resident of the borough to get there. We will be consulting with our residents on the options available to us to gather understanding so that we can take an approach that works for the borough.

"This year we are moving to separate food and garden waste collections as part of our overarching waste strategy and drive to become a carbon net-zero borough by 2050.

"This is a key change in our overall waste strategy that will be widely communicated to residents across the borough. We must also look at drafting a fit-for-purpose waste and recycling policy for the borough and that work will begin now with the Waste Member Working Group."