The conference will highlight the success of Project Pathfinder, a public, private and community partnership that has produced an integrated solution to waste management.
Project Pathfinder is an initiative between Bristol City Council, SITA, the recycling sub-contractor Resource Saver, the Recycling Consortium, New Deal for Communities Bristol and local residents. The scheme has shown how locally managed services can be more responsive to residents’ needs and can lead to improved waste collection, street cleansing and recycling services.
The initiative was set up in three neighbourhoods of Bristol’s New Deal for Communities area in 1998 and has been extended to two more regions in the city. A further 10 areas are being planned at present so that within the next few years the project will cover half of Bristol.
Raise Awareness
Kurt James, project director, said: “We want to raise awareness about the initiative as we have received international recognition for our work. We hope the conference will show other cities how they can implement similar projects. We want to roll the project out country-wide.”
Project Pathfinder brings together a range of services under one 8 person multi-skilled team. This team works within a neighbourhood of 3,300 households to empty bins, carry out street cleansing and recycling as well as special collections. The workers are based in the community five days a week so they get to know residents and can respond to their needs. There are also weekly meetings with members of the community to ensure that the project is managed on a local level.
Mr James added: “The recycling rate has gone up across Project Pathfinder areas because the scheme enables us to look at how best to get people to recycle. Because our workers are based in the community we are able to actively target houses that don’t recycle.”
Sharing solutions – a conference on Project Pathfinder, is being held in Bristol on 27 June. Further information is available from Kurt James on 07973 304548 or kjames2@yahoo.com
Register for free to comment