In April 2019, the scheme was introduced in the south of Kirklees – covering Huddersfield and the surrounding areas. This saw the council spend around £80,000 on physical inspections to check the content of the recycling bins, and remove them from residents who “consistently contaminate” them.
Kirklees confirmed that more than 1,300 bins were taken away from residents in the south of the borough in the first phase of the scheme. These households will need to apply for them to be returned in six months.
On Monday last week, 17 June, the council expanded the initiative to the north of the borough, and said that despite the confiscation of the bins it is now recycling an additional 35 tonnes of waste every week.
This is because, according to the council, by removing those bins that are contaminated or not emptying them it means the rest of the load can now be recycled.
In 2016 it was suggested that as much as 14% of the material collected from households in the borough had been rejected at the Suez-operated MRF where the council sent its recyclable materials (see letsrecycle.com story), although these figures were disputed by the authority.
‘Successful’
Ahead of the scheme’s expansion, Kirklees council said in a statement that the properties monitored so far prove that the scheme has been successful, and are confident this will be replicated in the north.
“Out of the properties monitored so far – around 90,000 – 86% of residents were putting the correct items in the green bin already. After residents were educated on what can and cannot go in their green bin, this number increased to 98%.”
The statement continued: “This means that just 2% of residents in South Kirklees were not recycling properly after being visited and educated by advisors.
“Due to this campaign and the cooperation of residents, an additional 35 tonnes of waste is now being recycled every week which otherwise would have to be sent to landfill or for burning.”
Contamination
The council, which serves around 422,000 residents, introduced the scheme as part of efforts to boost its recycling rate, which stand at just 27%. Neighbouring Wakefield, by comparison, stands at 47.8%.
The council has put this down to the fact that around 40% of green dry recycling bin contents in the borough is contaminated with items such as food waste, nappies and other bagged waste.
Kirklees say this is now vastly improving, but residents have begun a petition calling on the council to collect more materials.
Residents are asked to separate their waste into a grey residual bin and the green recycling bin, which consists of paper, plastic, aerosol cans and clean tins.
Waste and recycling collection and disposal in Kirklees are covered by Suez under a 25-year contract which began in 1998.
Commenting on the roll-out of the scheme, Anna Bell, regional manager at Suez, said: “Recycling bins contaminated with non-recyclable waste can result in material not being recycled. Non-recyclable waste such as food waste and even dirty nappies frequently contaminates recyclable material and is a considerable barrier to Kirklees recycling more. Ensuring that only recyclable material goes into the recycling bin means that as much material as possible is recycled and local residents get the best value for money”.
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