In May 2002, the council began alternating fortnightly dry recyclable collections with fortnightly residual waste collections from 42% of homes. The initiative saw the overall kerbside and bottle bank recycling rate for the district soar from 15% to 23.8% overall and reach over 30% in areas under the new scheme.
Optimistic
Steve Read, executive officer for Project Integra which coordinates Hampshire waste services, said: “We are optimistic that we will exceed a kerbside recycling rate of 30% from November onwards, after wastage at the MRF is deducted.”
The district estimates it will collect around 900 tonnes a month of dry recyclables from kerbside collections alone when the scheme is rolled out. When material recovered at household waste recycling centres is included, the district's overall household recycling rate will top 40%.
Optional
Before the alternate collections began in May, 70% of East Hampshire households had an optional kerbside scheme for paper, cardboard, aluminium, steel and plastic as well as separate green waste collections. The dry recyclables will continue to be collected together in the fortnightly scheme and processed at a Hampshire Waste Services MRF in Portsmouth.
East Hampshire's recovered materials are processed by Shotton Paper, Ayelsford Newsprint, Alcan, Corus and Delleve.
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