Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council’s recycling service has received praise from best value inspectors which found the service good and likely to improve.
The council's current recycling rate is 4.58% and although it is the second worst performing authority in Greater Manchester, the commission praised the authority’s targets, which they said where “clear and challenging”.
The report also showed that 76% of residents were happy with the council's recycling service compared to 59% in 1998.
The council received praise for its kerbside “community clean-up” collections which collect mainly bulky waste and have generated recycling and reuse rates of 33%. The “clean-ups” were started following the introduction of a charge of 10 in April to remove bulky household waste which saw the number of people using the previously free service fall sharply.
The home composting campaign which has seen 3,500 households given home composters since 1993 was also singled out. A recent survey showed that 84% of residents still used them with 72% composting their kitchen waste and 82% composting their garden waste.
The council also runs a kerbside waste paper collection scheme as well as skips for schools to collect waste paper and recycling sites for paper, cans, glass, plastics, textiles and clothing. The council promotes the use of real nappies and a community repaint scheme.
And Oldham Council has just secured funding for a pilot community led multi-material recycling and waste reduction scheme which aims to improve recycling and home composting. The scheme is being run in partnership with Action for Community Recycling Enterprise (ACRE) and Training into Employment.
Deputy Leader of the council, Councillor Chris Hilyer said: “Oldham Council is committed to reducing waste and increasing recycling and the reuse of material. We run a wide range of schemes ranging from the reuse of unwanted IT equipment to recycling Christmas trees, all with the intention of encouraging people to recycle. Our approach helps to reduce waste going direct to landfill sites which is crucial for a sustainable future for the environment.
“Clearly we still have a long way to go but it is excellent news that the best value inspectors have praised our efforts and recognised the determination of the council to improve recycling rates in the Oldham Metropolitan Borough through service improvements and stringent targets.”
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