The rise to 58.1% was covered in a report from to go before the Greater Manchester Combined Authority this week (11 October) and provides an update on the performance of the two contracts held by Suez since 1 June 2019, valued at £1 billion.
The report details that HWRCs managed under both contracts, which total 20 sites (9 sites in the WRMS contract and 11 in the HWRCMS contract), achieved a combined recycling rate of over 58% during the first quarter of the 2023/24 period.
As depicted in the graph below, the green trendline representing the performance of Q1 2023/24 shows an increase in recycling rates, even though there was a 3% rise in waste arisings compared to the same period in the previous year.
Measures
Increasing HWRC recycling targets has been mooted in the region for a number of years (see letsrecycle.com story).
The rise was put down to a number of measures which have been taken to increase recycling rates from the facilities.
This includes the prevention of trade and cross-boundary waste, through meet and greet schemes, a automatic number plate recognition system and a permit for vans.
“This has clearly had an impact on the numbers of site visits and the consequent delivered tonnage,” the report says.
It added: “Also, continued work from the four Recycling Officers (employed by Suez in the quarter 4 of 22/23), will specifically target the areas that will help promote and encourage recycling at the HWRC sites. The impact of these measures is being tracked and reported to monitor the outcomes.”
Contamination
Rejected tonnage at reception points across the contract has seen a significant reduction compared to the previous year, with a decrease of nearly 46%, equating to approximately 164 tonnes less rejected material.
However, the report makes note of the fact that challenges remain as 196 tonnes of recycling collections were still rejected due to contamination levels exceeding acceptable thresholds. Consequently, a continued commitment to implementing measures aimed at reducing contamination and promoting accurate recycling among residents remains essential.
The update on contracts was written by Justin Lomax, head of contract services at GMCA’s waste and resources team and Paul Morgan, the waste and resources team’s head of commercial services.
Waste arisings
Greater Manchester reported that the total waste arisings amounted to slightly over 280,000 tonnes representing a, increase of nearly 2% compared to Quarter 1 of the previous year (2022/23).
This reverses two consecutive quarters of falling waste volumes.
Simultaneously, the combined contract recycling rate stood at just over 49%, marking an improvement of approximately 0.6% compared to the corresponding period in the previous year.
Greater Manchester has also stated in the report that it plans to add additional measures including sampling of residual waste to identify recyclable materials inaccurately disposed of to inform targeted initiatives to reduce contamination and encourage accurate recycling by residents.
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