Berryman starts glass only collection in London borough of Bexley

Bexley council is piloting one of the UK's first kerbside collections to be based exclusively on glass. The scheme is the result of a partnership between the council and glass collector and processor, Berryman. London Remade has also provided funding for the scheme which has allowed the council to purchase 55-litre boxes for recyclables

The scheme has so far been rolled out to 10,000 households in the borough who have received a box for glass and a second set of 55-litre boxes will be distributed shortly to another 10,000 households. The scheme will go borough-wide in the summer of 2003. Berryman is providing the vehicles and crew until July 2003 and will collect glass on a fortnightly basis.

Mick Keogh, general manager of Berryman, said: “Early signs are very encouraging, and the public has certainly welcomed the initiative. We are currently servicing around 1,000 properties per day and these are generating over six tonnes of glass per week and growing.”

The council was one of the few councils to meet the government's 25% household waste target in 2000 and was awarded “Beacon” status for its waste management work. The council is now working towards a new target of recycling/composting 33% of the household waste produced from its 92,000 households by 2003/03 and 36% by 2005/06.

Measuring
Mike Frizone, assistant director of environmental Services for Bexley Council, said: “Our partnership with Berryman gives us the opportunity to collect more materials from the kerbside to meet our targets, as well as measuring how the scheme increases convenience to our residents.”

Councillor Linda Bailey, cabinet member for Environment, Transport, and Regeneration, said: “These trials with Berryman are a great opportunity for Bexley and its residents to continue to lead the way in recycling. They are essential, along with other recycling initiatives, because of the rising costs of waste disposal, the need to protect the environment, and for Bexley to build on its sustainable waste management strategies.”

Berryman has recently celebrated its eightieth birthday and announced that it plans to invest more money in the collection and processing of glass. Later this year the company will bring on line the UK's most advanced glass sorting equipment, which will enable glass to be sorted by colour.

Mr Keogh said that impending legislation means that “greater urgency must be attached to the expansion of collection and treatment capacity for glass”.

He added: “We have already announced our intention to increase tonnage by a further 300,000 tonnes and it is fitting that during our eightieth year we shall be working with more local authorities on more innovative projects and with more new technology than at any time during the company's long history.”