Once the boxes have been distributed borough-wide, from November 17 residents will be able to recycle plastic bottles and cardboard in addition to the materials currently collected, but it will not be compulsory for them to recycle the two materials – as it currently is for glass, newspaper and cans.
As a result of adding new materials to the list of those collected at kerbside in the borough, May Gurney will also bring in new vehicles as part of its five-year contract with the council, which follows on from Barnet's current arrangement with ECT Recycling, who were bought by May Gurney in June 2008 (see letsrecycle.com story).
Commenting on the changes, councillor Andrew Harper, the council's cabinet member for environment and transport, said: “The move to increase the number of items that can be recycled at the kerbside is one that we know will be popular with residents, as many have called on the council to introduce plastic and cardboard into the recycling stream.”
“We believe that the new recycling system will lead to an increase in recycling across the board and hope that residents join us in taking full advantage of the new service,” he added.
Recycling rate
Barnet, which achieved a 29.47% recycling and composting rate in 2006-07, is aiming to reach a 40% rate by 2010 and 45% by 2014.
May Gurney's environmental services development director, Andy Bond, explained that the deal would focus on recycling as many of the materials collected as possible, and doing so within the UK.
“We are delighted to be extending our partnership with Barnet and look forward to working with them over the next five years,” he said.
“Barnet residents can be confident that 99.95% of what they put out on the doorstep ends up being recycled. And the majority of materials will continue to be recycled in the UK, reducing carbon emissions,” he added.
To complement the changes, May Gurney is developing a baling facility at its Mill Hill Depot to make it easier for it to transport cans, plastic bottles and cardboard in bulk.
Barnet already offers kerbside collections for a wide range of materials, including glass, newspaper, cans and tins, aerosols, foil, textiles, shoes, mobile phones and car and household batteries, and these will all still be collected under the new service, but divided between the blue and black boxes.
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