THE EFFECTIVENESS of Reading Borough Council’s bulky waste collections has been called into question, with reports that residents are struggling to book the free service.
The scheme was re-introduced in May 2022, and allows for the pick-up of items such as sofas and fridges.
Councillor Rob White, the leader of the opposition on the council and Green party member for Park ward, says people have contacted him to air their concerns.
At a full council meeting on Tuesday, February 27, he said: “Green Councillors have campaigned against fly-tipping in the town for some time and we were pleased when the council introduced the service.
“Unfortunately when residents bring this up on the doorstep and in my own personal experience it is very difficult to get a slot and you can try numerous times and still fail.
“Does the Council have any data on how many times people are trying to book this service and failing?”
Councillor Karen Rowland (Labour, Abbey) lead councillor for environmental services, was unable to provide figures on missed collections.
She said: “Thank you for your party’s support of yet another Labour-led initiative to assist residents in this town, especially those with limited means around bulky waste removal and our efforts to reduce items that may be potentially fly-tipped.
“We are really pleased to provide any free service at all in such a financial climate. The service currently costs circa £250,000 per year and provides approximately 4,500 collections per year – 18 per day.”
She continued: “We have no captured statistics on numbers of failed booking attempts, but we do accept that a free service that provides 18 collections a day for approximately 180,000 residents in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis is going to be extremely popular.”
Cllr Rowland said the service has to account for rule changes for removing Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPS) used in sofas and other upholstered items mean they have to be collected separately.
“I am sorry that residents are having difficulties in booking, but with 4,500 bookings a year, equally, many residents are successful,” she said. “The process in place is on a first-come, first-served basis which is the most equitable method we can have in place.”
Cllr White asked if the service could be scaled up to limit unsuccessful bookings.
This would not be possible, Cllr Rowland responded, and said some unwanted items could be shared with the community via sites such as Freecycle, or donated to charities.
The council continues to operate a paid-for collection service which costs £52.50 for one to three items, or £50.40 each for fridge freezers.
There are concessionary prices for Your Reading Passport holders, with full pricing available on the council’s website.
