Speaking at a “Message in a Bottle” seminar in London, Andrew Simmons, chief executive officer at plastic bottle recycling organisation Recoup, championed the use of alternate weekly collections.
At the event, organised by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), he highlighted the success of Daventry and Lichfield as two of the leading recycling boroughs in the country, both of whom use alternate weekly collections.
Mr Simmons said: “There is no need to purchase new vehicles for alternate collection because you can use the same one each week. The extra cost that needs to be spent taking it to a materials recycling facility (MRF) will probably be countered by the money made from selling the material. With the money that is saved a council can spend extra on communicating to the public their role.”
less afluent
Speaking later to letsrecycle.com Mr Simmons gave Blackburn with Darwen as an example of a less affluent area that has made the scheme work. He said: “It is often difficult to have a good recycling rate in a poor area but using the alternate weekly collection scheme Blackburn with Darwen has achieved a recycling rate of around 15%.”
And he added that as well as increasing recycling rates, he believed that an alternate collection can save a council money. Milton Keynes council changed to alternate collection last year and has saved 1.3 million and increased its recycling rate from about 15% to around 22%, he noted.
Local authority officers at the seminar, which is one of a series being promoted by WRAP, were told of the opportunities that exist within plastic bottles recycling. They were advised that communication with the public is the most important factor for whatever scheme they run.
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