Plague of rats is blamed on mania for recycling

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Squalid: Recycling 'mania' has sparked a plague of rats

Recycling 'mania' has caused a plague of vermin infestations across the country, according to a damning independent report.

It blamed rubbish collections that come just once a fortnight and the widespread use of composting bins for a huge jump in domestic disturbances by rats and mice.

Complaints from families and householders suffering summer invasions by rats have gone up by more than a fifth in just a year, it found.

The investigation carried out for pest control firms linked the rise to 'recycling mania' in Whitehall and among local councils.

It condemned town halls that cut refuse collections from once a week to once a fortnight in the name of recycling.

It warned that the vermin problem will only get worse as all councils switch to compulsory recycling with fortnightly collections.

The National Pest Technicians Association, which based its report on returns from more than 300 local councils, called for rubbish collections to be made on a weekly basis, and said there should be a string of new safeguards where this does not take place.

A 39 per cent rise in call-outs to rat catchers over the last six years was blamed on:

• Fortnightly rubbish collections and composting

• Fly-tipping, litter, discarded fast food containers

• Charging by councils for pest control callouts

• Unmaintained derelict property

• Private water companies that do not co-operate with councils

• Households who put out too much bird food

It also pointed out that rats are attracted to rubbish overflowing from the tiny recycling bins often provided to households in the hope of making them curb their waste.

The findings are the first independent report to establish a firm link between the fortnightly collections - now introduced amid growing controversy and public unhappiness by more than 100 councils - and a decline in public health standards.

Separate reports carried out for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have only covered the impact of fortnightly collections during winter, when cool temperatures mean less vermin. Researchers producing the report for Whitehall found people were complaining about infestations, but blamed this on 'bias' among the public against fortnightly collections.

The NPTA however, found after consulting 302 local authorities across Britain that in the course of last year numbers of calls for ratcatchers and pest control firms to deal with infestations of brown rats went up by 13 per cent.

During the summer alone - the period when fortnightly collections have their greatest impact on public health - rat infestations were up by 22 per cent.

Since 1999, it said, overall rat infestations are up by 39 per cent and summer incidents by 69 per cent.

Infestations by house mice went up by 14 per cent this year, on top of a seven per cent increase in 2005.

Incidents involving house mice had been declining in numbers until 2003 - the year that fortnightly rubbish collections began to be introduced.

The NPTA, which numbers local authorities among its members as well as pest control industry firms, gave six reasons for the wave of complaints about vermin. Central among them was the introduction of fortnightly refuse pickups.

Its report said: "The recycling mania now amongst us is creating a serious knock-on problem. Household refuse stored within black plastic bags and overflowing wheelie bins causes a 24/7 source of rodent food."

Noting the "concerns of many members of the public" over fortnightly collections, it said: "Whilst the main reason for this change, we are told, is the need to bring in greater recycling initiatives, we believe it should not be done to the detriment of the removal of ordinary putrescible and organic waste from homes."

The report said that councils should be aware of World Health Organisation advice that, in temperate climates like Britain's, refuse should be collected once a week. It added: "These recommendations should seriously be reconsidered in the UK."

It called for three safeguards where fortnightly collections are maintained: measures to keep down rats, mice and urban foxes; special summer rubbish collections which would also help prevent fly infestations; and wheelie bins big enough to take all of a family's rubbish.

The last clashes with the aims of the Government and local authorities which are using recycling schemes to force families and households to 'miminise' the waste they throw out.

Report author Barry Sheard said: "Compost bins have no bottom. If they are put on soft ground rats can get in. Recycling schemes can work if they are well managed. But they have not been thought through."

The report comes against a background of rising discontent at recycling schemes and the system of harsh on-the-spot fines that has come with them. These can see families charged up to £100 if they put their rubbish out on the wrong day, or if they put out the wrong rubbish, or if they overfill their wheelie bin.

To defuse public opposition, Whitehall has told councils to introduce recycling and fortnightly collection schemes during the winter. Opponents will have got used to the schemes by the time smells become bad in summer, councils have been told.

However, the recycling schemes have gone along with growing fears that a 'pay as you throw' tax on rubbish will soon be brought in to make families pay to have their rubbish removed - a charge that would come on top of remorselessly rising council tax bills.

Town halls are expected next week to increase pressure on the Government for a rubbish tax - which could be charged on information provided by microchips that have already been secretly fitted to some wheelie bins.

Tories said yesterday that the report was more evidence that should persuade the Government and Environment Secretary David Miliband to stop pushing councils to bring in recycling schemes.

Shadow local government minister Eric Pickles said: "Councils are being bullied by the Government into axing weekly rubbish collections - despite this clearly being against the public's wishes. 

"People don't want bags of rubbish hanging around for days on end, bringing bad smells, attracting vermin, and encouraging rodents to inch closer. It should be up to local authorities to do what is best for their communities - they shouldn't be forced into changing their rubbish collections by Whitehall."

Former local government minister and Tory MP for Mole Valley Sir Paul Beresford said: "If councils would provide large enough bins this rise in infestations would be stopped. But many of them don't.

"We are also seeing being increases in the amount of fly-tipping, which is a phenomenal menace that usually goes unpunished."

A spokesman for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: "We're not aware of any evidence of a connection between alternate week collections and an increase in vermin.

"Any potential risk of attracting vermin such as rats could be mitigated by common sense measures as keeping bins sealed and clean. This would of course apply to weekly or alternate week collections."

 

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