Hackney seeks 12m saving with commingled switch

Hackney council is preparing to switch to commingled recycling collections in a bid to boost its 25% recycling rate and save 12 million by 2020.

At present, recyclables are collected from kerbside properties in Hackney by contractor May Gurney in green boxes and are sorted at the kerbside.

However, from March 1 2013, theLondon boroughwill be taking the waste and recycling service in house and all recycling will be collected together, with single-use green bags replacing boxes. The recyclables will then be sent to a materials recycling facility for mechanical sorting.

The move follows a successful trial in Hackneys Cazenove ward in which 68% of residents said they thought the recycling sacks made recycling easier and where over a quarter more waste was sent for recycling.

Vehiclesused under the trialwere also ableto collect recycling sacks 55% quicker than it took to sort materials at the kerbside, which Hackney said reduced congestion and saved money.

Labour-controlled Hackneystressed that thesacks have a larger capacity than the boxes at 60 litres as opposed to 55 litres and residents can also put out as many as they need.

The council fears that if it continues to collect recycling in boxes, its 25% recycling rate could fall to 22% by 2020 far below the 50% recycling rate it is required to achieve by 2020 under the revised Waste Framework Directive.

However, under the new scheme it hopes to reach a 34% recycling rate, which it says could be further boosted by food and garden waste recycling. This is despite an expected rise in contamination under the commingled service.

The council said: Less than 1% of materials collected from green boxes are rejected at the recycling plant. Currently around 4-5% of materials in the orange sacks are rejected. Taking this into account, Hackney will still recycle about 26% more using recycling sacks.

It added: Borough-wide use of the recycling sack scheme could save taxpayers 12m by 2020.

Advisers

Residents affected by the changes will be visited in January and February by recycling advisers, who will explain the new collections to them. On the whole the changes will be brought in for the following property types:

street level housing
flats above shops
low rise estates

Hackney council stressed that other elements of its recycling service would remain unchanged. Recycling will remain weekly alongside weekly refuse collections and weekly food waste collections, with a fortnightly garden waste service.

Material collected commingled will be sent initially to Bywaters materials recycling facility (MRF) in Bow for sorting. However the council said that from 2016 onwards a new state-of-the-art recycling facility will be available in North London.

The planned change in service in Hackney comes after the council was awarded 1.3 million in funding from the Department for Communities and Local Governments Weekly Collection Support Scheme in late 2012. The money will be used to expand the councils food waste recycling service to all street levels and estate properties and to give free compostable liners to all households (see letsrecycle.com story).