THE cost of running the glass collection scheme in Kirklees had rocketed by almost £¼m, figures reveal.
Last month the council confirmed it was scrapping the region wide scheme at the start of the new financial year in a bid to save £468,000 by the end of 2013/14.
The council has said the savings will come from releasing the temporary staff used to operate the service, and the removal of costs associated with operating the glass collection vehicles.
The vehicles that are specifically designed for glass collection will be sold.
Now figures released under the Freedom of Information act show the cost of the service shot up by £262,831 in 2010/11.
That year, the service to collect bottles from 117,000 households, rose from £503,470 to £788,301 as it was finally rolled out to the whole region.
But the income from selling the glass only rose £22,000 to £120,000.
The following year, the cost of operating the service rose another £11,000 but income dropped by £23,000.
Green party chief, Clr Andrew Cooper, who criticised the decision to scrap the service, said the council always knew it would cost them to operate it.
He said: “It might be the council wasn’t getting as much from selling glass as it wanted.
“The price of recycling glass will go up and down like any commodity.
“It was always known that it would come at a cost – that was understood by all councillors.”
Clr Cooper said the short term decision, forced on the council by Government cuts, may well backfire on the nation.
He added: “There are EU targets of recycling 50% of domestic waste by 2020 which if we don’t meet will result in fines.
“We’re doing about 43% around the country, so we’re not far off, and things like this just take us backwards.
“The Government should be saying what can we do to stop the UK from getting fined by the EU.
“It was a financial decision to axe it that’s being forced on us by the Government but it may well come back on them if they miss the 50% target.”
