inform-residents-newsletter-winter-2016 (2)

Improving and introducing new schemes The Council continually works to provide services to help you maximise the amount of waste that is reused, recycled and diverted from landfill. This includes upgrading infrastructure and the network of recycling centres throughout the district. This year, Irvinestown Recycling Centre (pictured left) underwent a £247,770 refurbishment, funded by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs through the Rethink Waste Capital Grant Fund. We also plan to extend the food waste collection service throughout the district, and will provide more detail about this in the near future. Inform Winter 2016 09 How much do you value your local environment? Ensuring Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Fermanagh and Omagh District Council has powers to protect and improve the quality of the environment for our local community. The Council will spend over £2 million this year on keeping the towns and villages of the district clean and tidy. However, dropping litter, chewing gum, cigarette butts and dog fouling remain a constant problem, despite the availability of litter bins and numerous public recycling facilities. Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act (NI) 2011 Under this legislation councils have powers to deal with environmental issues such as: • Littering • Fly-posting • Graffiti • Dog fouling • Abandoned and Nuisance Vehicles The Council takes the enforcement of this legislation very seriously and is committed to ensuring that it is implemented. Signs, banners and placards advertising community, charitable, sporting and church events, for example, may be permitted on public property subject to complying with a number of conditions. Event organisers should contact the Council’s Clean Neighbourhood Enforcement Officers on 0300 303 1777 for further information if planning to erect signage, banners or placards. Advertising for commercial purposes on public property is not permitted. The Council will take enforcement action and remove signage including posters, banners, placards and vehicle or trailer advertising units from public property when they are in breach of legislation. Fines Council Officers conduct regular inspections throughout the Fermanagh and Omagh district. Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) are issued for offences under different categories as follows: £75 for littering, graffiti, fly-posting distribution of leaflets on vehicles and for dog fouling £100 for advertising two or more cars for sale in the same street within 500m or repairing cars in the street as part of a business £200 for abandoned vehicles All fines will be discounted by £25 for early payment, within 10 working days. Non-payment of a Fixed Penalty Notice could lead to prosecution, with the possibility of higher fines. Since April 2015 the Council has: • Issued 128 fines for littering and illegal dumping • Secured 7 litter prosecutions for failure to pay a FPN • Issued 4 fines for dog fouling • Removed 472 fly-posters • Removed 16 abandoned vehicles Recycle more, reduce waste sent to landfill Recycling and reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill is good for the environment and good for ratepayers. Every tonne of waste that is sent to landfill via your black or green bin has environmental, economic and legislative consequences. The Council is grateful to residents for their continued efforts to recycle and reduce waste sent to landfill however, there is still a lot more to do. The Council must meet demanding targets to increase recycling and reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill. Failure to do so will result in significant financial penalties which will be an additional burden on local ratepayers. Therefore, we urge you to continue to recycle as much as you possibly can. Recycling targets Councils must achieve a recycling rate of 50% by 2020. Fermanagh and Omagh District Council currently recycles 45.48% (2015-16) of household waste. The Council is required to increase recycling by a further 4.52% by 2020 to comply with legislation. Waste sent to landfill targets Under the Northern Ireland Landfill Allowance Scheme (NILAS) councils must reduce waste to landfill by set targets on a yearly basis. Failure to meet these targets will result in the Council facing significant fines for every tonne over the set tonnage limit. The Council narrowly met the 2015-16 target and is required to reduce waste to landfill by a further 895 tonnes in 2016-17. The Council encourages everyone to increase their recycling rate and to fully participate in the Council’s new garden and food waste initiatives. Increasing your recycling rate • Always place the following items in your blue household recycling bin: - Paper including Christmas cards and wrapping paper (excluding metallic and glitter paper) - Cardboard - Tins and cans - Aerosols - Plastic bottles, tubs, trays and cartons • Use the 15 recycling centres across the district where you can bring additional items, such as real Christmas trees and wreaths, and bulky material. Seven of these centres have an area for furniture and paint reuse • Donate unopened, unwanted Christmas presents to charity • Always bring your empty glass bottles and jars to a recycling centre or to one of the 35 Bottle Banks located across the district • If you have a brown wheelie bin, always use it to dispose of your garden and food waste (18,057 households currently on brown bin collection service) • If you have a brown food caddy, always use it to dispose of your food waste (currently 3,500 households on this separate food waste collection service) This will help the Council to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill and to meet our challenging recycling targets. Compostable food caddy liners are available at any of the following facilities: • Recycling Centres at Fintona, Carrickmore, Dromore, Irvinestown, Belleek, Kesh and Lisnaskea • Civic Amenity Centres at Gortrush, Omagh and Drummee, Enniskillen • Council Depots at Gortrush or Killyvilly and at the Council offices at The Grange and the Public Services Centre, Omagh and the Townhall, Enniskillen Keep up to date For more information on recycling or re-use of over 300 items, download the Council Bin-ovation App for free by visiting the App store or Google Play. For iPad users, select iPhone only when searching. There will be NO residual (Black/Green) bin collection service on Monday 26 December 2016. Bins due for collection on that day will be collected on Saturday 24 December instead. All other bin collections will be as normal over the holiday period.  0 10 20 30 40 50 60 Landfill/EFW* 54.52% Recycling 2015/16 Where we are now Recycling 2020 Where we need to be 50.00% 50.00% 45.48% Recycling Landfill/EFW* Recycling * Energy from waste Reducing Food Waste Did you know food waste costs the average family £60 per month? To reduce food waste in your household: • Make the most of your leftovers – for recipe ideas visit www.lovefoodhatewaste.com • Freeze not throw away – your freezer is like a pause button. You can safely freeze most foods right up to their use by date. You can even cook defrosted meat in a new meal and freeze it to eat on another day