A landlord has asked the borough council whether more could be done to reuse unwanted brown bins across Welwyn Hatfield.

At yesterday’s Welwyn Hatfield Council meeting, landlord Richard Peevers raised questions about the number of unwanted brown bins and whether they could be re-assigned to other residents.

Mr Peevers, who has owned houses of multiple occupation in Hatfield since 2004, said he had no use for the brown bins as contractors are paid to maintain the gardens and the remove all green waste.

He told the council: “We have no space to store them, and offered to return them to the council (whose property they are).

“The council’s waste team responded that the council did not want them back, had no use for unwanted wheelie bins, and no scheme to reassign them to other residents.

“They said that we should take the unwanted wheelie bins to the County recycling centres and dispose of them there (in the rigid plastics skip).

“They would remove those bins from their database.

“We have previously been charged £60 to replace damaged or stolen wheelie bins, and told that reflects the actual cost of wheelie bins to the council.

“As taxpayers we own all the wheelie bins and it seems more than a shame to be told to dump the unwanted ones, even in unused condition.

“The council must surely be able to make use of them elsewhere?

“New housing estates don’t really need brand new wheelie bins, just bins initially in decent and clean condition.

“There may be hundreds of unwanted brown wheelie bins, and there may be some residents who need and would willingly pay for collection of two or more brown wheelie bins.

“What about reusing them in public parks to collect litter and dog waste?”

Councillor Helen Bromley responded: “When the garden waste service was introduced earlier this year, we asked all residents to initially keep their brown bins at home to give people time to consider the benefits of the service, and that the collection of unused brown bins would be reviewed at a later date.

“I would like to reassure you that we do re-use wheelie bins where possible.

“Unfortunately, we would be unable to put unused wheelie bins in public place, as these would not be fixed, which would make them a target for misuse.

“In addition, these would be very difficult to empty by the cleansing crews, in comparison to the fixed dog and litter bins across the borough.

“We do understand that in exceptional circumstances, residents are unable to keep their unused brown bins; these have been dealt with on a case by case basis and will be collected if required.

“However, if subsequently, a resident wishes to subscribe to the garden waste service, there could be an additional delivery charge for a replacement brown bin.”