Canterbury prepares to roll out new recycling scheme

The council will be rolling out its new scheme to the first 6,000 of its 60,000 households on February 7, with a further 6,000 added each month up to the end of the year.

” We spent most of last year informing our residents of the changes “
– Ian Mckenzie, recycling officer
The council has decided to switch to an alternate weekly collection service in an attempt to increase its recycling rate above 35% by the end of 2006. The eventual goal set by councillors is to be recycling 50% of the city's household waste by 2020. Canterbury currently recycles 30.2% of its waste.

The new scheme will see paper, cans, cardboard and plastic collected in a clear sack every fortnight, alongside garden waste, which the council is already collecting. Recycling officer Ian Mckenzie said that Canterbury would also be interested in collecting glass once the scheme has been completely rolled out.

In preparation of the changes Canterbury council has been letting its resident, employees, local press and collection crews know about the changes that are to take place.

Preparation

Mr Mckenzie explained: “We spent most of last year informing our residents of the changes. We started in February with a press briefing so the local press knew what we were doing and why.

“From then on in we have been running road shows at local events, ran presentations for interest groups and parish councils and we are currently briefing the areas that will be effected by the changes first. We have told people about the new scheme as often and frequently as we can,” he said.

Canterbury has also advertised the new scheme in the local press, radio and park and ride buses.

Special cases

So far the council has not had too many negative responses to the scheme, although Mr Mckenzie said he expects some feedback to come in once the scheme gets going. Canterbury has also been careful to ensure that special cases are taken care of.

Mr Mckenzie said: “We have given residents the chance to come back to us and say what they don't like about the new scheme and some provisions have been made. If a large family feels that one bin over a two week period is not enough we have supplied them with a second bin.

“We have also been pushing the use of “real nappies” to households containing small children. All of our maternity wards provide the nappies so we are hoping that once people realise that they are fine they will continue to use them,” he added.