Two years ago, when the waste management company first took on the seven-year, 40 million contract for Milton Keynes, recycling rates dropped significantly (see letsrecycle.com story). The contract had meant changing from a weekly to a fortnightly service, a move that was reversed in November 2002.
A statement from Cory has said that the move to a weekly collection has seen an increase by 70% in the amount of material collected compared with this time in 2001. In the first four weeks of the new system, 1,058 tonnes of paper, plastic, cans and glass were collected, with glass going into blue boxes and the other materials into pink bags.
“I think the factors behind the original drop in the recycling rate were quite complex,” Cory director Tom Nell told letsrecycle.com. “Originally, we didn't put out enough publicity about the change in the system. But this time, we made use of the press and there was free leafleting – it meant people were more on the look out and recycling was being talked about in an active way.”
The company is expecting a festive surge in the material they collect, and beyond that, a statement from the company has said that Milton Keynes is “well on the way” to achieving its statutory recycling targets.
“It's an easy system to use,” Mr Nell explained. “It's uncomplicated for the householder – they just put out their glass into a box and the other materials in a pink bag and it gets collected on the same day as their other rubbish. Undoubtedly there will be a small amount of contamination, but we aren't anticipating it being much more than low single figures.”
See also: letsrecycle.com story
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