Brent initiative targets recycling contamination

The council runs a weekly doorstep collection service picking up both food waste, cardboard and garden waste.

” We are aiming for 0% contamination rate. With more house-calls we can increase awareness we should be able to achieve this. “
– Nicola Percival, Brent council
Residents are allowed to include grass cuttings, fruit and vegetables, cardboard food packaging, tea bags and food scraps including cooked or uncooked food.

Among the items that cannot go in with the organic waste collections are soil, ash or stones, vacuum bags, nappies, textiles, chemicals or general household rubbish.

Householders are also being asked not to place any material in plastic bags.

Collected organic waste is taken to West London Composting in Harefield, and Brent council is contractually obliged to meet a 5% contamination limit for material received.

However, Nicola Percival, Brent council waste and environmental education team leader told letsrecycle.com: “The problem is that some residents don't understand what to do with the bins and treat like them like normal litter bins, others wrap their green waste up in plastic bags and others just don’t care.”

Awareness
The council has applied for 36,000 in funding from WRAP to further its awareness campaigning in areas where green box contamination is the highest, for example in Sudbury and Mapesbury. WRAP said today it is yet to finalise the funding.

Brent council has already introduced A5 stickers for crew loaders to put on contaminated bins. The stickers have pictures of the main contaminants clearly marked with crosses to show what can't be put in the bin.

The sticker seals the bins shut so residents can't claim not to have seen them. The crew then get in touch with the council who send out warning letters and if after 2-3 weeks there is still a problem house calls are made by the team. Ms Percival revealed the council has issued around 100 letters so far.

Languages
Brent also has a large proportion of ethnic minority groups in the area speaking over 10 languages (including Tamal and Somali) and the council is working to overcome the communication barriers and encourage everyone to separate their waste.

The council has also been working with a Yoga group in Brent called the India Association who sent booklets out about green waste recycling in Gujarati to all their members.

As an incentive to put out their green bins, Brent introduced a weekly competition where householders in Brent were given vouchers which they submitted for a draw each time they filled their green bins.

Aim
Ms Percival said: “We are aiming for 0% contamination rate. With more house-calls we can increase awareness we should be able to achieve this.”

Between the months of April and July, Brent householders increased the amount of kitchen waste, garden waste and cardboard recycled on the scheme to 5,292 tonnes from the 4,222 collected in the same period last year. The borough is aiming to raise its 18% recycling rate to 30% by 2010.

Last month saw the start of a trial plastic bottle recycling service to run alongside the existing weekly dry recyclable collections in Brent (see letsrecycle.com story). The plastic bottle scheme could be rolled out to the whole borough next year if successful.