The unitary authority has been using an energy from waste plant at London Road since 1975 to deal with the majority of its waste. With only 8% of waste going to landfill and targets for 2020 already achieved, the authority is now intent on increasing the amount it recycles.
” I am delighted to be able to announce that we will be expanding our recycling collections across the city.“
– Kevin Foster, Coventry city council
Currently about half the 120,000 homes in the city receive a paper recycling service, while a quarter receive a garden waste service. If plans are approved by the full council on December 13, these schemes will be city wide by the end of next year. Coventry believes that these changes will see an extra 13,000 tonnes of waste recycled per year, pushing its recycling rate over 25%.
The council plans to expand its paper recycling service to include houses across the entire city by February or March next year, high rise blocks and flats will then be included by September.
Paper is collected on a fortnightly basis in a 40 litre box by the council's in-house collection service and sent to Kappa Waste for recycling.
The council is now looking into the possibility of collecting other materials at the kerbside.
Councillor Kevin Foster, cabinet member for city services, said: “We don't have a materials recycling facility so any other collections would have to be done separately from paper, which we do not believe would achieve a very good tonnage.
“We may look into the building of a MRF although a financial investment that considerable will obviously need to be seriously looked into. In the mean time we have bring banks and a materials recycling centre for residents to take their plastics and metals to,” he added.
Garden waste collections, also carried out in-house, will begin in March 2006, to coincide with the main growing season and will cover the gardened households in the city – around 85%. Residents will be given the opportunity to choose a standard 240 litre brown topped wheeled bin or a smaller container. For small gardens, residents will be offered the chance to opt in to the scheme using containers such as reusable bags or boxes.
Mr Foster said: “I am delighted to be able to announce that we will be expanding our recycling collections across the city. We have recently made some fundamental changes to the way we organise waste collections across Coventry, such as the recent changes to bin collection days that have made it easier for us to expand the recycling service.
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“These plans will see us make a significant investment to provide the people of Coventry with a service they really want. Like many other residents I cannot wait to receive my new paper tray and to being able to recycle from home,” he added.
Residents will receive more information about the scheme through leaflets, adverts and the council's own website and hotline. There will also be a special exhibition trailer visiting schools and community groups to promote the new service.
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