BASINGSTOKE and Deane Borough Council’s environment chief has said radical changes could be implemented if recycling figures do not improve.

Councillor Hayley Eachus, Cabinet member responsible for the environment, has warned that if residents do not help to increase the recycling rate from the 25 per cent figure achieved last year, big changes such as introducing smaller black bins will need to be considered.

In an exclusive interview with The Gazette, Cllr Eachus, pictured, said: “Not everyone is putting in the green bin what they can, and if this does not happen, we are going to have to look at radical changes, which will increase council tax – something we don’t want to do.

“I think it is about everybody working together but if you can’t, there needs to be radical changes which people might not like.”

As reported in The Gazette on February 6, the Cabinet member for environment at Eastleigh Borough Council credited the use of smaller refuse bins across Eastleigh for helping to boost the area’s high recycling rate, which stood at 40 per cent.

When asked if this would be something she would look into, Cllr Eachus said: “The pros are you are then forcing people into recycling more, but on the flip side, are we going to get side waste which is left behind?”

When asked about the borough’s ailing recycling figure, Cllr Eachus said: “My aim is to increase that and the main way is through working together. We as a borough have got responsibilities but residents have to help us.”