From Green Party Cllr Sarah Hopewell, East Herts District Council Executive Member for Wellbeing
In the final lead up to the Hertfordshire County Council elections, and in a somewhat surprising move, Hertford & Stortford Conservatives have decided to run a widely advertised petition against the new East Herts District Council (EHDC) bin contract. Surprising, because the contract, including weekly food waste collections, separation of paper/card and dry recycling, and collections on a three-weekly rota, was designed, consulted on, and voted for by the Conservatives administration in 2022. And it continued to receive broad support by EHDC Conservative Councillors at recent council meetings.
So, why the bin changes, and why would Conservatives petition against a bin contract that they themselves designed and voted for?
As a country, processing residual waste is a major issue. Landfill space is limited, Energy-from-Waste incinerators are problematic, and both are incredibly costly. We need to find other solutions for managing our rubbish. Central Conservative government began work on a Resource and Waste strategy in 2019, and work has continued with the Labour government, who have introduced new, national, ‘simpler recycling’ regulations. These include a new standard for households to have four containers for waste, separating food waste, paper/cardboard, all other dry recycling, and non-recyclable landfill. The government is also developing new laws on packaging, to reduce packaging and place the cost of dealing with packaging on the very companies who use it.
The new EHDC bin contract is ahead of government expectations and has received cross-party support since being designed by Conservatives in 2022. Why? Because it complies with government requirements within the finances available to the council. It means soft plastics can be collected for recycling for the first time, and food waste can be properly treated and used for compost and energy, rather than emitting methane while rotting in landfill and taking up valuable space (analysis found that up to 30% of waste in East Herts refuse bins is currently from food waste).
No change is perfect, and this will be a big adjustment for all of us. Some residents need extra support, and the Green/LibDem administration is working to address concerns where possible. And while it is a big change, the new arrangement should dramatically reduce the amount that we throw away – good for the environment, and good economics, since waste disposal is charged for every tonne of residual waste.
Yet rather than explain the reasons for the changes and their own role within that, the Conservatives have started a fiercely worded petition against the whole arrangement in its entirety – neatly writing themselves out of the story in the process.
Why the petition now, against a contract they designed, just a month before County Council elections? Is it even a genuine petition? I’ve repeatedly asked the Conservatives if and when they plan to present their petition to EHDC full council, but my enquiries have been met with a telling silence. Rather than using a transparent petition platform, the Conservatives selected Google Docs and have asked how signatories intend to vote at County elections “knowing what we now know about Green & Liberal Democrat plans for our bins”.
My guess? The Conservatives want your vote – and they are rewriting history with a dodgy petition to get it.
It saddens me to think of the many people who are signing in good faith: who have been taken in by the Conservative party’s duplicitous behaviour. The Conservatives are not a party of fools. But they are a party with some who are prepared to try and fool you.