COUNCIL boss David Atkinson has admitted York's wheelie bin changes might have caused short-term unpopularity - leaving some employees bearing the brunt of public protests.

But he insisted the introduction of fortnightly rubbish collections will bring long-term benefits by leading a fundamental shift in public habits and opinions.

He urged all City of York Council employees to act as ambassadors of the authority and make a real effort to recycle and reduce their own waste.

The chief executive was issuing a rallying call in the staff magazine, News In Depth, as controversy continues to rage over the introduction of fortnightly refuse collections alternating with garden waste collections. Thousands of Evening Press readers have backed the paper's Bin It campaign against the changes.

He was asked the question: What are we to make of the protests which have descended upon the council? He said: "For or against, we are all part of this - as customers, either in York or local authority areas where fortnightly collections have already been introduced or will be, and as part of an organisation where our colleagues are bearing the brunt of the protests.

"And we should all have an interest in any initiative which, for good or bad, affects the reputation of the council as we are all ambassadors of the council, in our working lives and also, if we wish, our private lives."

Mr Atkinson said there were broadly two lines of thought on the fortnightly collection service.

One was that customers were "wedded" to the weekly collection, seeing it as a basic service entitlement and focusing more on the perceived problems around fortnightly collections.

"Those who take this line generally see it as the council's responsibility to help the city achieve the essential increase in recycling needed to protect land from tipping, reach environmental goals and avoid heavy government fines."

He said the other approach was to recognise the difficulties and public resistance to fortnightly collections as the price that had to be paid for significantly increasing recycling and reducing tipping of waste.

"This latter is the approach we have chosen to take. We have therefore to accept our responsibilities and perhaps short-term unpopularity for the long-term benefits of the city by leading a fundamental shift in public habits and public opinion.

"Whatever the outcome, our job is to support it and implement it competently. In our private lives as responsible citizens, and as ambassadors of the council, we can all start by making a real effort to increase our recycling and reduce our waste."

Updated: 09:37 Monday, November 28, 2005