Councils mount Christmas recycling campaigns

Councils across the UK have unveiled a wide-range of awareness campaigns and practical advice for residents in a bid to tackle waste generated over the Christmas and New Year period.

Local authorities have identified food waste, Christmas cards, Christmas trees and small waste electrical and electronic equipment as the main items they are targeting through kerbside recycling services and/or bring bank schemes.

And, while some councils have made special provisions at this time, a large number are simply using the festive period to remind residents of the waste materials that can be recycled, which in most cases includes card, wrapping paper and food waste.

Other waste bodies, such as the Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority (MWDA), have issued guidelines for residents to tackle waste over the holiday.

The MWDA – which covers six local authorities – has pushed the message of reuse, suggesting that householders retain Christmas cards until next year and cut them up to use as gift tags, as well as wrapping presents in a way that allows the material to be reused.

Carl Beer, director of the MWDA, said: “With all that is going on at this time of year, it's understandable that recycling can slip down your list of things to do. However, with the extra amount of waste created it's also a great opportunity to boost recycling.”

Focus

On the ground, Bradford metropolitan borough council and Warwickshire county council estimate that waste arisings will increase by 30% over the forthcoming period and are calling on residents to check their collection dates in order to ensure that excess waste is collected.

Elsewhere, Cherwell district council and Derbyshire county council have outlined food waste as a main area that needs to be tackled in this season of largesse. Cherwell has reminded residents that turkey bones, over-cooked sprouts and half-eaten mince pies can all be recycled in the garden waste collections.

In Bath & North East Somerset, the unitary council has identified small waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) as one of its main concerns on the waste front. The local authority is aiming to beat the record set for material deposited at its recycling centres last year, which saw 235 tonnes of small WEEE collected in 2009/10.

Working with WEEE producer compliance scheme Repic, Bath & North East Somerset council aims to collect the equivalent of 25 double-decker buses worth of material, which equates to a target of around 367 tonnes of small WEEE.

Trees

Christmas trees have been identified as one main area to tackle for councils and waste companies. For example, the London borough of Ealing is allowing residents to leave trees – with decorations removed – out with their weekly garden collections.

And, residents in flats in the West London local authority area are being advised to take trees the council's three reuse and recycling centres, which will remain open over the festive period expect for Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day. The trees will then be composted alongside the regular green waste.

Camden council in North London is also offering a free Christmas tree collection service from January 3 to January 16, this is in addition to asking residents to place Christmas cards and wrapping paper in their blue bags for recycling.

Waste management firm Viridor estimates that it will receive almost 200,000 trees at recycling centres it operates across the UK during the Christmas and New Year period, which will then be turned into compost.

Dan Cooke, Viridor's external affairs manager, said: “Recycling Christmas trees reduces waste and benefits the environment, so be sure to leave your tree out for your green waste collection service, or make a quick trip to your local recycling centre.”

Campaign

Bristol city council and Rhondda Cynon Taf county borough council have both rolled-out dedicated awareness campaigns aimed at alerting residents to the levels of waste generated from Christmas meals, presents and decorations.

The Bristol campaign, ‘Watch Your Waste', features a cartoon wheeled bin being squeezed by measuring tape and is aimed at highlighting the work of the council's recycling service in reducing waste to landfill.

Meanwhile, Rhondda's ‘Let's Round Up Recycling Together' initiative, which is comprised of a poster campaign and also a ten-step programme to a ‘greener Christmas', with measures including recycling Christmas cards, battery recycling for batteries discarded from old toys and urging residents to make their own Christmas decorations.

Businesses

Meanwhile, Plymouth city and Middlesbrough councils have opted to issue a stark warning to businesses, in order to remind them to tackle excess waste generated over the Christmas period.

In the South West, Plymouth has taken the opportunity to remind businesses that eight fixed penalty notices have been issued to local firms for breaching their duty of care over the last four months. And, it has reminded companies that the council has no obligation to collect commercial waste.

Councillor Michael Leaves, cabinet member for community services at Plymouth city council, said: “Getting rid of rubbish is expensive business, but Plymouth council tax payers should not be footing the bill for businesses failing to carry out their legal duty.”

Middlesbrough council has already issued advisory notes to companies and intends to carry-out inspections over the Christmas period to ensure adequate provisions for disposal, storage and collection are in place.

The council, which has warned that companies could face fines of up to £1,000 for breaching their duty of care, has also suggested businesses increase waste collections over late December and January, ensure they have a contract with a licensed contractor and that waste is properly contained.

“Vigilant”

Also on the issue of waste carriers, Wakefield council has warned both businesses and householders to be “vigilant” with regards to illegal traders removing excess waste over the Christmas period. The council claims “bogus collectors” will seek to exploit residents and companies in need of waste removal but will, more than likely, illegally dump the material.

Wakefield has, instead, urged residents to make use of the recycling centres across the West Yorkshire local authority and businesses to ensure that their waste carrier is properly registered.

Conditions

Councils are still contending with the advent of further snow and icy conditions (see letsrecycle.com story). And some, such as the Borough of Poole council, have alerted residents to ongoing issues with the collection schemes.

Poole has cancelled collections for the majority of this week, stating that many side roads in the borough are “treacherous” and “largely inaccessible” for the Dorset council's waste and recycling collection vehicles. The council is allowing residents to leave a “reasonable amount” of extra material out for collections.

Shaun Robson, head of environmental and consumer protection services at the council, said: “We aim to resolve these issues as quickly as possible and generally where one day's collection has been missed we would ideally aim to collect the next day. However, once a second day's collection is lost, that simple solution is no longer possible and the risk of creating confusion for our residents is considerable.”

Meanwhile, Cotswold district council is currently conversing with its contractor SITA UK over the possibility of rolling out an ‘Emergency Plan' to counter the delays and missed collections caused by the adverse weather.