Shropshire looks for cardboard recycling solution

As of November 28 the council stopped collecting cardboard with its organic waste (see letsrecycle.com story) . This is because, while card is technically compostable, it is often laminated or contaminated with non-compostable material which reduces the quality of compost produced.

At the time the council said it was exploring alternatives but in the meantime advised residents to take their cardboard to a household recycling centre or place it one of 20 cardboard recycling banks it has installed across the county.

Petition

But, residents are unhappy with this suggestion and created a petition demanding the council to find a way to continue and collect the cardboard in a sustainable fashion. The petition states: ‘Shropshire council has failed to find an alternative use for waste cardboard now that it cannot be used for organic garden compost. Its only advice to householders is to drive to a recycling centre to dispose of it, but it will then be sent to landfill’.

The residents behind the petition have since acknowledged that the material is not being sent to landfill, but have questioned why a system to collect the cardboard has not been put in place when other nearby local authorities, such as Telford & Wrekin, have provided residents with blue bags for cardboard whichare left at the kerbside for collection. Shropshire has a population of 293,400 people.

Debate

The matter was debated by the councilon December 14because the petition received over 1,000 signatures.

Commenting on the debate, councillor Mike Owen, Shropshires cabinet member responsible for waste and recycling, said: We welcome a debate about this and can reassure residents that we are committed to finding new ways of collecting cardboard so that this material can continue to be recycled from the kerbside.

Source separated

Recyclables collected under the councils waste contract with Veolia are separated at source. To aid the current collection process the council has recently invested in new vehicles with different compartments for the separated materials.

It is understood that the council has found it hard under the current configuration to integrate cardboard collections into the service, particularly following the investment in the new vehicles, but it is aware that something needs to be done to resolve the problem.