CALLS for Shropshire Council to draw up plans to cut the amount of household waste produced in the county have been rejected.

Proposals for the authority to publish a strategy on reducing waste by 25 per cent by 2025 were voted down at a meeting of the full council on Thursday.

Oswestry South councillor Duncan Kerr, who tabled the motion, said the move would bring Shropshire in line with comparable areas of the country and would build on the county’s strong performance in recycling.

In 2019/20 Shropshire ranked 43rd out of 341 local authorities in England for recycling, with a rate of 54.6 per cent.

But the total amount of waste produced per person, at 489.9 kilograms, was one of the highest figures in the country.

A 25 per cent reduction would see this drop to 367kg, just below the England average of 373kg.

Councillor Kerr said: “Our recycling rate is good, but it is undermined by the total household waste we produce which is the fifth highest in the country.

“Most residents of Shropshire are probably blissfully unaware of that.

“Collecting, transporting and treating waste – whether it’s recycled or not – is a major cause of greenhouse gases and it has to be tackled by any authority that has declared a climate emergency.

“It’s also very expensive. It’s not surprising that we top the table for comparable councils in the cost of waste collection and disposal.

“We need to learn some lessons from councils that have done better than us and have effective waste minimisation strategies.

“I have proposed a very modest target, which is to get – in four years – to an average situation.

“I suggest this is the very, very bare minimum any competent authority that takes climate change seriously would be seeking to do.

“It will reduce emissions and it will also save us money.”

Councillor Ian Nellins, portfolio holder for climate change, said Shropshire’s high waste output could be partially attributed to the fact the council offers free garden waste collections.

He said: “Promotion of waste reduction initiatives takes place but is limited due to the small staff resources within the team, and is being looked at.”

Councillor Nellins said the council used social media to promote waste minimisation, home composting, water refill schemes, projects like Shrewsbury Food Hub and OsNosh, and repair cafés.

He said the Food Hub was also working with other organisations to establish a ‘Shropshire Food Partnership’, to reduce food waste and food packaging, and promote community growing.

Addressing the high cost of processing waste, Councillor Nellins said this was down to the extra staff, vehicles and fuel needed to collect waste and recycling in such a large, rural county.

Councillor Nellins added: “In 2019 the waste management unit put together a waste minimisation plan.

“This is not a public-facing document, however it sought to recognise where and with what actions the waste management unit could have most influence given the small staff resources available.”

The motion failed to win support.

Following the meeting, Councillor Kerr said he was “disappointed” in the outcome of the vote which left the council in the “bizarre situation” of not taking serious steps to cut waste despite having declared a climate emergency.

Councillor Kerr said: “The government’s waste hierarchy puts minimisation and re-use way ahead of recycling and incineration but it seems that the controlling group on Shropshire Council think they know better.

“Next week, the cabinet will be considering replacing the containers for recyclables with a wheeled bin.

“While I welcome residents being given the choice of a wheeled bin for their recyclables, without any accompanying incentives for residents to slim their residual waste bin Shropshire will still be heading for a waste crisis, and the government will ultimately have to take action.

“It has left me wondering what Shropshire councillors thought they were doing when they declared a climate emergency, it is action not words that the planet needs.”