Now three months into the 12-month pilot project the Doncaster Community Recycling Partnership is looking to expand the scheme from 11,000 homes in the borough to a further 20,000 properties.
Funding for the project comes from the SITA Environmental Trust, Single Regeneration Budget and the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund and has been used to buy a range of equipment and vehicles. These include three 7.5 tonne lorries, sets of stillages, a sprinter van and 12,000 boxes with 500 lids. The organisation is leasing a sorting facility which includes a weighbridge and compactors from a local businessman.
The partnership has been set up as a not-for-profit company. Jenny Craven, education officer, explained: “We have got income coming in from the material we sell and also from recycling credits. We hope to become sustainable and work towards a local service agreement.”
The community group is collecting glass bottles and jars; newspapers, magazines and junk mail; aluminium and steel cans; and old clothing and other textiles. The glass is delivered by Berryman to nearby glass manufacturer Rockware Glass. Cans are supplied to Corus and Alcan, paper to Cutts Brothers and textiles to T&C; Textiles in Wakefield.
Education
Ms Craven said that information and education has played an important part in the scheme's success. “For the scheme to succeed in the longer term, it is essential that people in our communities participate, and they therefore need to understand in advance why it is a good idea to put material out for recycling. We use leaflets, the local media, public meetings and work in local schools to spread our message as widely as possible.
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