A downer for the waste paper collectors in De Wolden. The city council has decided tonight to stop the collection by volunteers from associations and schools.
Over the past few weeks there has been a lot of discussion about the theme by the council. In the end, however, a majority of the political groups chose to vote in favor of the plan. Municipal interests, ChristenUnie, CDA, PvdA and D66 agreed, while GroenLinks and the VVD did not like the proposal.
Group chairman Eline Kippers-Van Lint of GroenLinks said that she had never received so many messages from concerned collectors. According to her, the same situation once played out in the municipality of Westerveld, but it was decided there to continue with the volunteers. “It hasn’t caused any problems there. The money they earn can pay for a membership for a child that parents on a small budget can’t afford.”
According to alderman Mark Turksma, that comparison does not hold. He spoke for the responsible alderman Egbert van Dijk, who was absent. Turksma states that the current collection method is no longer future-proof. With this he points to the commitment of volunteers, the safety and the use of the side loaders that are still available. “Nice for the municipality of Westerveld that it is still possible there, but we are our own municipality,” added Pieter Groot of Municipal Interests.
“We always talk about a win-win situation. The old paper is collected for the municipality and the volunteers earn an extra pocket money,” said Corné den Hollander on behalf of the ChristenUnie. “Unfortunately, that win-win situation is no longer realistic and it costs the municipality more money. Reason enough for us to stop the current arrangement.”
For the collectors, they say it is a major source of income that they lose. With that money, schools can, for example, pay for trips for the children. From 1 January it is the intention that the company PreZero will collect the old paper. The municipality hopes to save about 80,000 euros with this.
The collectors are not completely left to their own devices. The intention is that they will be compensated in the coming years with a phasing-out scheme. Initially that would be three years, but a majority of the council approved an amendment to extend that to four years.