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The weekly collections will now be part of the new £2million pound waste contract which also includes the extension of the kerbside recycling service to include plastics from April 2008.

In addition to the weekly black binbag collection, residents will still be able to leave their recycling in black boxes and brown sacks every two weeks in addition to the new plastic collection.

Councillor John Seaman MBE, Conservative Chairman of the Environment & Transport Committee, said:
"We have listened very carefully to the thoughts and opinions of the residents of East Cambridgeshire on the subject of waste collection. It became increasingly clear to us that while they were 100 per cent committed to recycling, they wanted to retain their weekly waste collection. This is what we have done.

"No one should be under the illusion that because we are keeping weekly collections, our commitment to recycling is wavering. Nothing could be further from the truth. Although East Cambridgeshire sends the lowest amount of waste per household to landfill of all the districts in Cambridgeshire – there is room for improvement. Although the average household sends 100kg less to landfill now than it did four years ago – there is more to do. And despite increasing the amount we recycle by 200 per cent in the last four years – we can do better.

"There is a lot to be done. We all need to more effectively manage our waste if we are to maintain and improve on our current recycling performance. This will be helped by the new kerbside plastic recycling service from next April and by improved education about how to deal with your waste. For example, simple things like composting can dramatically slim your bin and reduce the amount of food waste which goes to landfill.

"We have listened to what the residents of East Cambridgeshire wanted and retained our weekly collection service. Now it is up to us all to work together to increase our recycling rates further and ensure we do not fill landfill sites with tonnes of rubbish which can and should be recycled."

Veolia Environmental Services won the contract with East Cambridgeshire District Council in a five tender pitch.

Cllr David Brown, Conservative Waste Management Project Leader, said:
"We have chosen an ambitious and technologically advanced solution that will improve recycling and reduce landfill rather than spending tens of thousands of extra pounds on intrusive and cumbersome waste collection hardware such as the electronically monitored wheelie bin.

"The treatment plant that will be handling black bag waste has a proven track record in Europe and will ensure that the District's landfill figures are kept well short of Government limits. If these are exceeded, we would face fines of £150 per ton of excess rubbish sent to landfill but we are confident now that this won't happen to us.

"We have worked hard to get the best possible deal from waste management companies for the public during this tender process. We took a hard look at the problem –to provide an efficient service for residents, to maximise recycling and to achieve this without raiding the bank accounts of East Cambridgeshire council tax payers."