Guildford reduces waste arisings by 1.8%

Figures just released by the authority for 2003/04 show that with the fall of 1.8% rubbish produced in the borough actually fell by 1.8% from the previous year. In fact the total collected was the lowest since 2000/2001.

The council said that with “landfill space rapidly diminishing the need to reduce the amount of waste we have to deal with is absolutely paramount and so the authority is particularly pleased to be bucking the national trend.”

The council’s recycling performance also improved with over 9,000 tonnes of paper, glass, cans, plastics, foil and textiles collected separately from other waste and sent for recycling. This pushed up the borough’s recycling rate to just over 20%.

Banned

James Whiteman, head of recycling, cleansing and parking, said that one factor in the waste reduction was the fact that garden waste was now banned from black sack residual waste on two rounds. “This has been a success and we are now extending this across the borough. Our crews are quite eagle-eyed and can spot green waste in the sacks. If they find it residents are given literature telling them not to use the sacks for garden waste and instead compost it at home or send it for composting.”

Residents in the borough have in the past had to buy bags for the garden waste. The council is now introducing a new system whereby the residents will be given a reusable bag. The residents will then have to buy an annual coloured ticket from Guildford for 12 and this will then be placed in a corner of the bag visible to collectors.

Mr Whiteman added that other factors behind the waste reduction include the education work carried out by the council, which has been supported by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and the supply of Green Cones to residents for home composting.

Awareness

Councillor Jenny Wicks, lead member for the environment said, “These figures are excellent news and prove that the hard work carried out by the council on improving recycling facilities and raising awareness about waste issues is yielding some really practical results. Residents are taking positive action like using the kerbside recycling collection, composting more of their waste at home and buying less packaging and they deserve to be congratulated for doing so. Long may it continue.”