RUBBISH collections in the Maldon district could be switched from weekly to fortnightly.

Maldon District Council is considering offering a kerbside plastics collection to increase recycling rates – but officers say this would require significant investment.

Residents may have the chance to decide whether or not they are willing to accept fortnightly collections to fund the plastics collection.

Option one would see weekly rubbish collections, a weekly food waste, paper, card, cans and glass collection, but no plastics.

Option two is for fortnightly rubbish and plastics collection, and weekly food waste, paper, card, cans and glass collections.

Members of the community services committee for Maldon District Council will now decide whether to approve a public consultation when it meets on Tuesday, September 1.

Any consultation would need to get at least 1,026 responses to be valid. Chris Quilter, waste management team leader, said: “The results of this survey will be used to assist in the development of a new recycling and refuse collection service, which balances the desires of our customers with the costs of operating it and achieving the highest recycling rate.”

The new consultation would follow one carried out between November 2008 and March 2009, when just 672 households responded – equivalent to about 1.1 per cent of the population in the district.

The first consultation highlighted a desire for plastic collections but was inconclusive on whether fortnightly collections would work.