The BBC, via a freedom of information request, this week claimed that the Huddersfield-based council rejected 14.99% of household waste sent to its materials recycling facility (MRF) in 2014/15.
In comparison, the average recycling reject rate for local authorities in England was reported at 3%. The London borough of Greenwich and Hull council achieved recorded rejection rates close to those of Kirklees.
But according to Kirklees council, the BBC figures “do not necessarily reflect a true comparison between different councils” as it recorded all recycling material rejected including commercial waste.
The council reasons that other local authorities “may not have been as transparent when recording their reject rates”. Kirklees has also emphasised that it is working to reduce contamination in household recycling.
Contractor Suez has not commented on the specifics of Kirklees but has spoken of the need to improve quality of recycling.
Spending
A council spokesperson said: “Kirklees has seen its budgets massively reduced, with our overall spending power per household reducing more than Leeds, Calderdale, Bradford, Wakefield and Barnsley. This places significant pressure on all our services and has meant we have been faced with a £3,400,000 per year reduction in the funding for waste, street cleaning and parks maintenance. This means we have to use the remaining resources where they will make the biggest impact.”
As one of the largest unitary authorities in England, Kirklees’ household waste and recyclables are collected in-house by the council. Paper, cardboard, cans and plastic bottles are collected mixed from green bins. WEEE, rigid plastics and food waste are not at present collected from the kerbside because they “cannot be dealt with” at the local MRF.
Waste and recycling disposal in Kirklees is covered by Suez under a 25-year contract which began in 1998. As part of the deal, the waste business took over running of five household waste and recycling centres (HWRCs), a transfer station and the 136,000 tonnes-per-year capacity Vine Street incinerator situated near the centre of Huddersfield.
Suez also opened a MRF adjacent to the recovery plant in 2000, which has since handled up to 25,000 tonnes of the area’s separated and commingled material from the kerbside and HWRCs in each year.
Value
The contract, which does not expire until 2023, has been praised by the council as “exceedingly good value” offering “one of the lowest costs per tonne in the country”.
A Kirklees council spokesperson said: “The decision on where to take the recycling is made by the contractor and is dependent on where has capacity. When the facility rejects a load it does not cost the council any additional money as we do not send items to landfill and energy is recovered from any waste that isn’t recycled.
“A large part of the contamination problem is the wrong items being placed in recycling bins. We work hard to encourage residents to recycle and to advise on the correct items that can be placed in the recycling bins. Information on what can and can’t be recycled is available on the council website.”
The council added that in autumn 2015 it introduced a new process of checking the recycling bins and placing information stickers on those with the wrong items in them, with repeat offenders receiving visits from advisors to discuss waste minimisation.
In 2014/15, the local authority achieved an overall recycling rate of 27% – which the authority suggests has since climbed to 28.5%. “Ultimately where someone continues to spoil other people’s recycling efforts – despite all the help and information we’ve given, we will remove their green recycling bin.”
“Having to reject recyclable material due to contamination benefits no one”
David Palmer-Jones, chief executive
Suez
Suez
Suez declined to comment on Kirklees stating it had “limited influence” on recycling contamination as the MRF operator rather than the collection contractor.
However, commenting on the larger study of reject rates, Suez chief executive David Palmer-Jones suggested it was largely the householders’ responsibility to ensure waste is recycled correctly.
He said: “Having to reject recyclable material due to contamination benefits no one. As well as reducing recycling rates it also costs industry and local authorities money to redirect it.
“It is the responsibility of us all – industry, local authorities and government– to improve not just the volume of recycled material, but also the quality, by educating and encouraging householders to play their part effectively and responsibly.”
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