A smooth transition to alternate weekly bin collections is as much to do with communication as it is to do with bin rounds, says Richard Stokoe ‘Fortnightly bin collection is crazy', ‘Councils move to fortnightly collection by stealth', or ‘Fortnightly rubbish collection creating a plague of rats', are just some of the headlines produced by national newspapers which can make people think twice about adopting alternate weekly collections of rubbish. However, ever more councils are still going ahead with introducing these schemes. And if a local authority plans to do this, what should it do to reduce hostility to the scheme? There are three key ways to make sure that the adoption of a new rubbish collection scheme – information, expectation and implementation. First, it is important that local people in the area where the change is proposed are given time to ‘have their say'. The motto of, ‘We asked, you said, we did', is a crucial first step to making sure that people feel a part of any changes. If the new arrangements are endorsed, it is then imperative that people are repeatedly given information to help them understand why the changes are happening, what the changes are, and how they will effect them. For a resident, the most frustrating issue is when they discover that changes have been implemented that they did not know about. It is the ‘startled rabbit effect', which can have profound consequences to the popularity of the scheme, and the council, over the months ahead. The next part is expectation – what could be dubbed ‘'the Heathrow Terminal 5' effect. Any scheme on its introduction will have some opponents, and no scheme will ever go perfectly from day one. Explaining to people that the council will help them to make the changes, that it won't be glitch-free, and that it should help the environment without costing them more, are just a few of the key messages that people should have explained to them. There should not be any spin. Just information that would help people understand the reasons for the changes and how they will affect them. A variety of pieces of research have shown that it takes residents around nine to 12 months for changes to be completely adopted, and embraced. After this time, surveys show that after a year or so, the vast majority of local people are extremely satisfied with alternate weekly collection, because not only has it not brought impending doom and pestilence, as predicted by national media headlines, but people feel better for helping do their bit for the environment. The final part is implementation. A heavy-handed approach to enforcement will only put people's backs up. It may take a lot more time to send an environmental officer round to help explain the changes compared with putting a sticker on a bin saying it is uncollectible, but in the long run, it will help people in a far more constructive way. Councillors out knocking doors to explain to residents how to recycle more effectively work really well. With the national media hoovering up stories on this issue, it is all too easy to feel that it cannot be done and the public will be hostile. However, councils across the country have demonstrated that alternate weekly collection can be successful and popular with local people, if it is done by working with residents. Richard Stokoe is head of news at the Local Government Association There are three key ways to make sure that the adoption of a new rubbish collection scheme – information, expectation and implementation
