Report reveals where Welsh recycling ends up

A significant proportion of the waste collected for recycling in Wales is reprocessed in North West England, the first full year end destinations report published by the Welsh Government has shown.

Published on Friday (March 22), the report compiled by consultancy firm SKM Enviros provides details of where each of the 22 local authorities in Wales sent their plastic, glass, metal, wood, paper and card for recycling between April 2011 and March 2012.

Dry Recycling End Destinations: a Report for Local Authorities in Wales is the first study to be published with a full years worth of data since the Welsh Government pledged to publish end destination information in its Municipal Sector Plan in March 2011.

The report includes details of the company and facility used to process the material.

In total, it shows that more than 800,000 tonnes of waste collected by Wales councils was recycled or reused, compared to just 700,000 tonnes being sent to landfill. This means that Wales became the first of the UK nations to recycle more than it landfilled.

But, it does highlight that much of the countrys waste is recycled elsewhere in the UK, with Viridors glass processing plant in St Helens, Aylesford Newsprints Kent paper mill and ECO Plastics bottle recycling facility in Lincolnshire among the main facilities used.

And, while some material is listed as being sent to third parties or brokers for export, as well as travelling as far as Brechin, Scotland, the report suggests that the bulk of the material processed in the UK is sent to facilities in North West of England, or in South Wales.

Quality

Commenting on the report, Wales recently appointed minister for natural resources, Alun Davies, said that the hoped that the report would help to encourage the collection of high quality recyclate in Wales.

He said: Recycling not only benefits the environment but also supports the economy through the creation of jobs in the waste and resource management industry. This is why the collection of high quality recyclate is central to our plans as it can be reprocessed here in Wales retaining our resources, creating local employment and stimulating Welsh markets.

Mr Davies claimed that the report will serve to remind residents of the importance of recycling, adding that people have a right to know what is happening to the material they leave out for recycling.

He added: I appreciate that separating out and recycling our waste takes a little longer than simply throwing everything into the bin and this is why the Welsh Government believes people have the right to know how their recycling is used.

I hope the report, which shows that our waste is being used as a valuable resource that can be recycled or re-manufactured here in Wales, encourages people to continue recycling and even start recycling more materials more often.

Requirement

The 2011/12 report follows the publication of data covering October 2010 to March 2011, published by the Welsh Government in April 2012 (see letsrecycle.com story). Currently Wales is the only administration in the UK to make the reporting of end destinations of waste a requirement for councils.

In England, a voluntary charter for councils has been established by the Resource Association backed by the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC), aimed at providing greater transparency and boost public confidence in recycling (see letsrecycle.com story). Local authorities including North Somerset, Wiltshire, Ealing and North Lincolnshire have signed up to the charter.

• A campaign aimed at reducing the amount of food and drink that is being wasted by households in Wales was launched last week (March 20) by Waste Awareness Wales. The publicity campaign will involve newspaper, internet and radio advertising to encourage the public to separate out food waste for collection.