The survey is part of plans to reduce the amount of waste thrown away in the county each year and will shape the future of Hampshire’s waste services, the partnership said.
“By analysing the sort of material people are throwing away and what they are recycling, we can look at where we might make changes to our services and invest in our facilities to help keep the amount of waste to a minimum.”
Councillor Rob Humby
Hampshire county council
Explaining the reasons for the survey, Councillor Rob Humby, executive member for environment and transport at Hampshire county council said finding ways to increase recycling and reduce waste was “high” on the council’s agenda. “It would bring both financial and environmental benefits,” he added.
“Collectively in Hampshire, councils spend around £100million each year dealing with household waste. By analysing the sort of material people are throwing away and what they are recycling, we can look at where we might make changes to our services and invest in our facilities to help keep the amount of waste to a minimum.”
Samples
The survey will involve taking samples from both recycling and general waste collected across Hampshire to see what materials are being thrown away and what is being put in recycling bins.
And, Cllr Humby pointed to difficult to recycle materials. “Labelling on packaging can sometimes be confusing. People in Hampshire are very good at recycling plastic bottles, for example, but other materials, such as food packaging trays or disposable coffee cups which look like they’re made of card, can’t be recycled in the processing plants that we have currently, because they consist of layers of different materials.
“It’s important we have up-to-date information on what people are putting in their bins, so we can ensure our services are fit for purpose in the long term,” he said.
Waste put out for collection at a “random sample” of properties will be collected and sorted into material types to provide an overall picture of the different materials within Hampshire’s waste stream, Project Integra said. Samples from Hampshire’s household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) will also be included in the study.
No materials will be retained or stored after the analysis and no information that could identify an individual will be collected or reported, the partnership said.
Project Integra
Project Integra is Hampshire’s Waste partnership, consisting of the 11 district/borough authorities in Hampshire, Hampshire county council, the unitary authorities of Portsmouth and Southampton and waste management contractor, Veolia UK.
National Civic Amenity Site Conference
Hosted by letsrecycle.com, the NCAS Conference (7 June, Stamford Court, Leicester) will explore good practice in HWRC management and provide delegates with an overview of how to improve performance and cut costs whilst still providing a good quality service.
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