Hull forced to reconsider incinerator plans

The proposed Energy from Waste plant would have processed 165,000 tonnes of waste a year. It was rejected after opposition was raised by residents who formed a group called Hull Against The Incinerator. The councils and Waste Recycling Group are examining the reports and reviewing their options, such as finding a new site for the plant.

Doug Sharp, recycling and education officer for Kingston upon Hull city council, said: “The council is currently taking a back seat with no commitment to the way forward.” He added: “The response to the scheme said we should be recycling, not incinerating, but there will still be residual waste. This project has been worked on for the last 6 years. Our landfill capacity is severely depleted and we are going to have to go further and further a field.”

Paper

Hull city council has hailed the success of its re-launched blue bin kerbside paper collection.

To promote the paper recycling scheme over 110,000 blue bin recycling packs were sent out to every household in Hull in April 2003. The promotion scheme was funded partly by the council and partly by Cheshire Recycling as part of their paper collection contract.

Mr Sharp said: “We revamped the way we market ourselves. We decided to send people information that looks like it's worth reading, instead of the usual council newsletter you get through your door. The key is regular communication with our residents.”

This publicity resulted in over 1,500 requests for blue bins, over 40 businesses signing up to the scheme and an increase of 15-20% in the tonnage of waste paper collected in April. A single kerbside crew collected 18 tonnes of paper waste in one day.

Mr Sharp said: “The response has been fantastic. We're collecting more paper, we've got more people involved and we've got a real feel for residents' views on the future of recycling in Hull.

Hull council collected over 5,500 tonnes of paper in 2002/03 and is expecting 6-8,000 tonnes this year. The paper collections were introduced last year and currently cover 83,000 households.

The city currently recycles about 9% of its household waste and the paper collection scheme contributes around 50% of the city's recycling rate. The council’s recycling targets are 14% by 2003-2004 and 21% by 2005-2006.