Inert waste change hits Manchester recycling rate

The council released a statement saying it was frustrated with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) because, contrary to the figures, it was actually recycling more than it did last year.

The council's recycling figures for the first quarter of 2009/10 showed an 18% municipal recycling rate – a 5% drop from the previous year – and Manchester city council believes the drop has been caused by a change in the categorisation of non-domestic waste that is processed and re-used and landfill cover.

On September 1 this year the Government introduced changes to the Landfill Tax system (see letsrecycle.com story) and this led to daily landfill cover being classed as a taxable disposal and not a recyclable, meaning it no longer counts towards recycling rates.

Vicky Rosin, Manchester city council's director of neighbourhood services, said: “It is extremely frustrating, to say the least, that we are in a situation in which, despite Manchester residents recycling more than ever before, these figures appear to show a drop.

“This does not reflect the reality of what is actually happening in the city. The facts are that more people than ever before are recycling. The council has made it much easier for people to recycle and we have also introduced new services which allow them to recycle material that beforehand they could not,” she added.

Ms Rosin explained that an extra 1,214 tonnes of material had been collected in the south of the city thanks to a new service that enables residents to recycle carboard and plastic.

“Not one single piece of recycling by any Manchester resident ends up in landfill sites – all of it is recycled.,” she claimed.

Richard Cowell, the council's executive member for the environment, also defended the city's recycling figures. He said Manchester had come on in “leaps and bounds” and pointed out that only six years ago the city recycled just 4.3% of its waste.

He stressed: “By the end of this year we will have recycled more of our waste than ever before. That's even taking into account this bureaucratic redefinition and is something that everyone in Manchester can be proud of.”

espite the reclassification and recycling rate reduction the council still believes that it will raise its overall recycling rate for 2009. It has predicted that the rate for 2009 will be 21.06%, up from last years figure of 20.8% which included landfill cover.

Council officers are now working on a report to present to the council's Communities and Neighbourhoods Overview Scrutiny Committee that is due to discuss the situation at a meeting tomorrow (October 13).