1,000 per tonne kerbside recycling scheme revealed

The Assembly praised “cost effective” community recycling groups after it published a study yesterday looking at recycling, composting and refuse collection costs among the 22 Welsh local authorities.

This report is extremely useful and the Welsh Assembly Government will now consider its findings in detail.

 
Jane Davidson

However, although the study was carried out in cooperation with the Welsh Local Government Association, the WLGA denounced its findings for its “inaccuracies”, warning that it “should carry a government health warning”.

RPS Planning and Development, which carried out the study, reported that some councils had difficulties separating out their kerbside costs from their overall waste services budgets, and that “in some cases these inaccuracies have had a skewing effect on the data”.

The WLGA has also questioned the Assembly's comments about community recycling services.

Assembly government

Commenting on the findings of the study, entitled Survey of Funding of Municipal Waste Management Kerbside Collection in Wales, the Welsh Assembly government said it showed “enormous variations” in costs, “particularly in kerbside recycling”.

Although the study does not name the councils, three council schemes were reported to be running kerbside recycling services operating above £800 per tonne in cost.

Assembly minister for environment, sustainability and housing, Jane Davidson, said: “The cost to local authorities of an individual recycling collection varies between 11p and £2.25 across the country. Most local authorities collect recyclables themselves, while others use private contractors or the community recycling sector to carry out the service on their behalf.

“This report is extremely useful and the Welsh Assembly Government will now consider its findings in detail,” the minister added.

However, Cllr Richard Parry Hughes of Gwynedd council, the WLGA spokesperson for the environment and planning said: “I am surprised that the Assembly Government has published this report when the authors themselves have emphasised that there are inaccuracies in the data. The report should carry a Government health warning.”

“There is also nothing particularly original about the findings. The research shows that refuse collection costs more in rural authorities than urban or valley authorities: this is not surprising given the additional costs of transport in rural areas,” Cllr Parry Hughes added.

Recycling

Concerning recycling, the study said 39 million collections were undertaken in 2005/06 at a cost of £25.5 million, with costs averaging at £317 per tonne. Collections in urban areas proved much more expensive than in rural areas and the Valleys – £444.87 per tonne on average in urban areas, compared to £266.78 per tonne in rural areas and £239.91 per tonne in the Valleys.

In terms of kerbside sorting schemes, the study found that costs varied between £36 per tonne to about £380 per tonne, averaging £203.33 per tonne. Commingled systems averaged £570.64, but two out of the five schemes were those above the £1,000 per tonne mark, with the other three in the region of £170 to £350 per tonne.

Green waste services in Wales accounted for 22 million household collections in 2005/06, at a total cost of £3 million. Collection costs averaged at £107.51 per tonne, being generally more costly in rural areas (£133.74 per tonne average) than urban areas (£93.33 per tonne) or the Valleys (£76.37 per tonne).

Community sector

As it published the report, the Assembly government praised the community sector for providing the “most effective method of collection” for recycling.

The report did state that the three community sector groups operating in Wales were achieving an average of £96.01 per tonne for kerbside recycling schemes, compared to the national average of £317 per tonne.

Aside from the three highest-cost authorities for recycling services, most council-run services in Wales ranged between about £180 per tonne to £390 per tonne for their kerbside recycling schemes.

The community sector welcomed the Assembly government's view about its recycling services in Wales.

Lucy Danger, Chair of the Community Recycling Network UK said: “The statistics in this report speak for themselves. The third sector is way out in the lead when it comes to providing value for money and quality recycling collection services. We thank the Welsh Assembly Government for drawing this to everyone's attention and congratulate our Welsh colleagues on their achievement.

“It only remains for me to point out that that the third sector is providing value and inspiration throughout the rest of the UK,” she said.

However, the Welsh Local Government Association questioned the Assembly government's comparisons between local authorities and the voluntary sector's handling of waste.

Cllr Parry Hughes said: “The voluntary sector only collects certain parts of the waste stream – it is not responsible for municipal refuse collection and disposal. It must also be remembered that a key element of cost incurred by local authorities is the Landfill Tax imposed by the UK Government which is increased annually.”