Exeter claimed that the three month period had been characterised by a decline in waste arisings, thanks in part to council-led waste minimisation efforts and retailer initiatives to reduce packaging waste.
In particular, it said newspaper and magazine volumes had “gone down significantly”, despite the volume of other recyclable material remaining constant, and that this had adversely affected the city's recycling rate.
Commenting on the decline, Penelope Lane, recycling manager at Exeter city council, said: “If proportionally the residual waste had gone down the exact same amount as the recycling, we would have the same recycling rate. However, if you look at it, paper is down.”
“I can only deduce that people are buying less newspapers and magazines and I am sure the likely thing is there is national trend. I know it is affecting other areas and I speak to other recycling officers who are all seeing exactly the same thing. There are less people buying and as a consequence reading more online,” she added.
Paper collected for recycling in Exeter is sent for sorting at the council-operated materials recycling facility (MRF) at Marsh Barton, with recovered paper then supplied to Aylesford Newsprint in Kent for recycling.
Ms Lane said: “The tonnage through the MRF hasn't been as low as this since 2005/06, which is waste minimisation and we think it is because shopping is being made lighter, it has got to be, as people are still eating and drinking. The main thing that has dropped is the paper and I think all the paper mills have been reporting that is the case.”
Ms Lane said that if the council did not have to meet recycling targets based on tonnages then the fall in waste arisings would be commended as “fantastic”, as it is ultimately diverting more material from landfill.
However the council is currently chasing a self-imposed 37% recycling target for 2009 and is focused on getting residents to move material from the residual waste bins to the recycling bins.
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