Thanks to a £4 million investment in its recycling services over the past year, the city council is hoping to spring from the bottom of the local authority recycling league table in time for 2008, when Liverpool becomes European Capital of Culture.
New recycling facilities have included the roll out of 115,000 new wheeled bins for the collection of green waste in the past 12 months, with the council revealing that June 2007 saw a doubling of the amount of garden waste collected in the same month in 2006.
The amount of paper, card, glass, cans and plastic bottles picked up by Veolia Environmental Services collection crews has also nearly doubled in the past year.
And, with the planned roll out of wheeled recycling bins to 70,000 homes this autumn, the council is forecasting even greater progress. A council spokesperson claimed: “If the city's recycling rate continues to grow at such an astonishing rate Liverpool will soon become one of the greenest councils in Britain.”
Transformation
Liverpool's recycling transformation follows the council being ordered by the government to double its recycling rate by 2008 (see letsrecycle.com story). During 2005/06, the city was among the worst three council areas in England for recycling.
But Councillor Berni Turner, Liverpool's executive member for the environment, hailed the new figures as “amazing”, saying: “Our recycling rates are really blasting off and they could become stratospheric.”
“I'm delighted that from a relatively low base, recycling in Liverpool is now afirmly established part of people's everyday life. We haven't even completed the roll out of our blue bins which collect all recyclables yet. And we are also trialling alternative solutions for people who cannot use blue bins,” Cllr Turner added.
Recycling in Liverpool is now afirmly established part of people's everyday life.
Cllr Berni Turner, Liverpool CC
The new scheme uses wheeled bins supplied by Telford firm Plastic Omnium, with collection contractor Veolia picking up the green waste every fortnight. The bins have replaced the sacks previously used to pick up green waste.
Meanwhile, blue wheeled bins for dry recyclables and purple residual waste bins have been offered to all homes that can accommodate them, including some terraced properties.
Liverpool is one of the councils within the Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority, which manages collected waste and recyclables, with dry recyclables sent to the materials recycling facility in Bidston for sorting.
Procurement
Liverpool city council's collection contract with Veolia expires next year, and the city is currently procuring a new multi-million pound contract for both waste and recycling collections.
Officers have published a notice in the journal of the European Union and Liverpool is now inviting expressions of interest.
Andy McCartan, environment manager at Liverpool city council, told letsrecycle.com yesterday: “We are tendering for an integrated waste and recycling collection contract from November 208 and it will last for seven or 14 years.”
