for those interested, here is the reply from the constituency office:
In the context of keeping the Waste and Recycling service within budget at a very difficult time financially for the Council it was felt, when setting the 2009/10 budget, that the emphasis regarding Green Waste should be on home composting. This is a far more sustainable option than the Council collecting the waste, taking it to a transfer station and it being taken from there to a recycling facility, all involving vehicles, manpower and fuel. We are therefore promoting composters at below cost price. See
www.richmond.gov.uk/home/environment/rubbish_waste_and_recycling/recycling_in_the_gard en/composting.htm
At previous prices the Green waste collection service was, in effect, being heavily subsidised by residents who did not use it, including those who composted at home. At the increased prices (£50 for the bin if paid by direct debit) the subsidy is much less.
(In 2007/08 the Council Tax payers subsidised the collection of green garden waste by approximately £250,000. The aim in increasing charges is to reduce this by approximately £130,000 thus reducing the burden on residents generally so that people pay for the service they choose to use.)
In making a budget at a time of falling revenue and increased costs the alternative to increased charges would have been service cuts. We have tried, in this difficult situation, to take the least worst options.
On the figures so far supplied to me a majority of people have renewed their green waste bin contract at the new prices, nearly all opting for the direct debit option of £50. Only a small number have so far said they will not be renewing.
As I have explained, the service runs at a loss and cancellations would make it more not less economic as less vehicles would be used. On a more positive note it is perfectly possible for neighbours to share a green bin, albeit the contract being with just one of them.