The system, which shows that councils can meet government recycling targets without a significant increase in cost, has been developed by Barnwell Waste Consultancy and Ivan Good Associates following an in-depth study undertaken in August and September.
Although the council has a recycling rate of 26%, the fourth highest recycling rate in the UK, further action needs to be taken to hit the government target of 36% by 2006. And a consultation carried out earlier this year showed that residents wanted to see the kerbside collection increased.
Ivan Good of Ivan Good Associates told letsrecycle.com that the council needed to change its recycling system because its materials recycling facility (MRF) could not cope with the volume of material it was receiving and was having to sub-contract another organisation to take material out of the district.
He said: “There was limited scope and capital to increase the size of the MRF therefore it was sensible to look at kerbside sorting operations. We investigated the existing recycling operations and because the old fleet of vehicles were up for replacement, we decided to start from scratch. By sorting at the kerbside we are relieving the pressure on the MRF, reducing costs and should achieve recycling rates of well over 40%.”
The council currently has a black sack weekly refuse collection, a fortnightly “orange sack” recyclable collection and two-thirds of the district have a brown wheeled bin collection for green waste.
April
Under the new system, householders will be given two 55-Litre boxes for paper, textiles, glass, cans and plastic bottles which will be collected every week. There will be an alternate week wheeled bin refuse collection with brown wheeled bin collection of green waste will be extended to every household. The council hopes to have the scheme up and running by April next year.
Plastic bottle recycling is being introduced because Mr Good said that he always encourages councils to collect plastic because of public demand and because multi-material collections get a better response. Also, because plastic bottles take up so much real space in the refuse bin he recommends that they are removed. Mr Good said: “If you want to reduce the amount of waste in the bin you have to take plastic out.”
Mr Good explained how the work they have carried out shows that for many councils government recycling targets can be met without significant additional expenditure. “In the case of Lichfield, the revised system provides for a new fleet of compaction vehicles, specialist recycling vehicles, wheeled bins, recycling boxes and depot modifications – with an overall cost reduction for the council. Magic wand? No, just a change of focus!”
Brian Bird of Barnwell said: “We looked hard at Lichfield’s existing operations, reviewed options with council officers and recommended a scheme that should provide for a significant quality improvement in the waste management service.”
Councillor Mrs Jill Dunsmore, chairman of community committee, said: “We asked the people of Lichfield District to tell us how we could manage household waste better. They told us that they wanted us to extend the kerbside recycling schemes. They told us that we should recycle plastic. We can now give people what they asked for, and we shall save money.”
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