Waste Consultation
We know that refuse collection, recycling, street cleaning and estate sweeping service are important to residents and businesses in Haringey. We have invested in significant improvements to these services over the last few years, and we know from research that residents' satisfaction with them has increased.
A consultation document was distributed to residents in the July 2009 edition of Haringey People, and was also available online. The closing date for this consultation was Friday 18 September 2009. The council received the biggest response to a consultation that Haringey has issued. Over 6,800 responses were received and we would like to thank those that participated. The results are detailed below.
A second consultation was also undertaken, focussing on businesses in the borough, and this closed on Friday 15 October 2010.
The council has now awarded a new waste management contract to Veolia, which came into effect on 17 April 2011. The views and feedback from residents and businesses on the services obtained through these consultations was a valuable input into the procurement process.
Residents Consultation - results
Views on being able to contact us
- 58% of all respondents (6,862) stated that they would like to contact the Haringey Enterprise Call Centre by telephone to report a problem or ask a question
- 51% stated that they would like to receive updates via SMS text message or email
- 36% of respondents would prefer to use the website or email to report a problem or ask a questions
- 51% of respondents say that extending the opening hours of the call centre would be useful to them
Residents who live in blocks of flats (1,020 respondents)
- 55% would recycle their food waste if the service was provided to them
- However, 36% of respondents commented that increasing participation rates and providing basic recycling services to all flat occupiers should be provided before expanding the collection service further
Residents who live above a shop on the main road (106 respondents)
- 72% would like to put out their rubbish between 7am-10am for a morning collection
- 66% of respondents would prefer a 7pm-10pm evening collection time
Dog fouling (6,862 respondents)
- 62% of respondents think dog fouling is a problem in their local area
- More enforcement action is considered to be the most effective way of solving the problem
Your local priorities (6,268 respondents)
- 80% of all respondents would like to receive free or reduced charge bulky waste collections
- 46% of residents would like to see an increase in the frequency of litter picking and street sweeping in their own streets
- Also, high priorities was the faster removal of dog mess and proving an annual deep clean in the respondents own area
Using the Reuse and Recycling Centres (6,682 respondents)
- Only 33% of respondents agreed that extending the opening hours would encourage them to use the Reuse and Recycling Centres.
Improving the amount we recycle (4,173 respondents)
- The three most popular items that residents would like to be collected from their household is mixed plastics, Tetrapaks and old clothes/shoes/fabric
- If such items couldn’t be recycled from the homes, 61% of respondents would take them to a ‘bring site’
- 36% of respondents suggested we can encourage more recycling in the community by further improving the recycling infrastructure. This includes requests for bigger recycling containers, such as wheelie bins
- Education to change behaviour is considered by 17% of respondents to be the key to increasing recycling participation, particularly in flats, schools and houses in multiple occupation (HMOs)
Feedback
Many of those responding were happy to be asked their opinion about the service and took the opportunity to thank the council and its staff for the improvements in cleanliness and recycling facilities in recent years. A number of specific and exclusive compliments were paid:
- 176 positive comments were made about the council’s Reuse and Recycle centres, particularly about the helpfulness of staff and the facilities provided
- 115 respondents saying the facilities to allow people to recycle from home are already much improved and they cannot think of anything else we need to do
- 350 comments at the end of the survey stating that in overall terms they were happy with the services that were being provided
By a similar token, there were 168 comments where residents were unhappy with the service they receive, many of which centred on proper street cleaning and the return of wheelie bins to their proper place. Over 2,000 suggestions were made about how we can improve the service, including more street sweeping and measures to tackle dog mess and dumping.