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17
May
Green Party calls for new North Yorkshire waste strategy amid missed targets
Green Party councillors have called for a new council waste strategy amid concern over missed targets.
North Yorkshire Council’s current strategy, called “Let’s talk less rubbish”, aims to increase recycling and reduce waste.
But the Green Party group on the authority has pointed out that the council has missed targets set within the strategy.
It said the target of 50% recycling by 2020 had been missed, despite having nearly 20 years to achieve it. Latest reported rates were 43.9% for quarter two of 24/25, with rates as low as 36.9% in quarter four of 23/24.
Councillors also pointed out that the council has been granted an exemption from mandatory food waste collections, meaning that in 2043, North Yorkshire and York would be the last councils in England to collect food waste.
Cllr Arnold Warneken, Green Party councillor for Great Ouseburn, pointed out that the Allerton Park Waste Recovery plant near Knaresborough has never met its own recycling targets and should be utilised more.
The group has written to Cllr Greg White, executive member for Managing our Environment, and Cllr David Hugill, the council’s climate champion, calling for a new strategy to be devised.
Cllr David Nolan, Green Party councillor for Skipton North division, said:
We know that most residents want to reuse and recycle. We should empower them to do that. We now have the basic infrastructure, but we need to do more to communicate, educate and create better opportunities for reuse and repair. We need to plan ahead, and work around barriers.
The failure to think strategically on waste is costing the council millions of pounds. It limits our ability to develop a circular economy and meet climate and carbon obligations.
Let’s make our residents proud of their county – and their council – by really driving down waste, and all the nuisance and expense that it brings to our beautiful landscape. It’s time to show leadership and enact a robust waste strategy.
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