A man could become the first person in Basildon to be prosecuted for failing to recycle properly.
Basildon Council is drawing up a magistrates’ court case against the Noak Bridge resident, who has yet to be named.
He failed to pay a £75 fixed penalty notice, issued last month, for failing to recycle properly after receiving two warnings.
You see, in Basildon, you don’t get a choice about recycling. You
have to do it.
If they spot no recycling bags, they go rifling through your black sacks to see if you are throwing away stuff that could be recycled:
Compulsory recycling went live across the district from September last year, with the enforcement review running from November 2009 until the end of June.
Five full-time environmental enforcement officers probe people’s pink and black rubbish sacks, looking for correspondence to identify the offender.
Welcome to the People’s Republic of Basildon, comrade.
Meanwhile, in neighbouring Southend, they may have trouble instituting such draconian schemes.
At least, until they’ve cleaned their own house:
Southend Council has been slammed for not recycling its own food waste despite urging residents to do so.
Lib Dem councillor Carole Roast said she was outraged to discover that food from the Civic Centre is not recycled and the council does not require its private catering firm, Yes Dining, to do so either.
Unless Pickles and Spelman get a grip on things, expect this to escalate, and flytipping to spiral out of control.
