In addition, the council’s executive member for the environment, Angus Ross, said that the decline of newsprint in the UK was also “having a perverse effect on our recycling rates”.
The Berkshire authority was 197th out of 352 local authorities for its recycling performance in 2012/13, but then dropped 37 places the following year to 232 with a rate of 39.1% of waste recycled – fact that was highlighted by Lib Dem councillor Lyndsay Ferris at a recent council meeting.
The 2012/13 league tables followed an Agency letter sent to all composters in August 2012 warning them against using street sweepings and gully waste residues to produce quality compost, deeming the material unsuitable for recycling due to contamination (see letsrecycle.com story).
But, responding to cllr Ferris at the meeting on July 23, cllr Ross claimed that the ruling had a “disproportionate effect on our recycling rate”, as “the amount of roads we have, we have a large amount of street sweepings”.
The council said that if it were able to recycle its street sweepings instead of sending the material to landfill, then it would have achieved a recycling rate of 45% in 2012/13, but added that it is currently exploring ideas which could potentially see street sweepings counted in its recycling rates in future.
‘Broadly flat’
Cllr Ross told the meeting that over the last five years “recycling has stayed broadly flat in the borough which reflects the national picture of an increase in residual waste and flattening of recycling”.
He said that “of particular relevance to Wokingham borough was the change implemented by the government in May 2012 to deregulate the recycling of street sweepings” adding that “for councils like Wokingham, who had previously performed well and recycled 100% of street sweepings, this had a disproportionate effect on our recycling rate.”
However, cllr Ross said: “We are exploring, with our partners, ideas about possible treatment of the arisings that could see some element of street sweepings being included within the recycling rate again. In addition, we are not being complacent about recycling generally and are trialling a number of initiatives including targeting areas where we have evidence of poor recycling rates.”
re3 partnership
Wokingham, Reading and Bracknell Forest councils –as the re3 partnership – have a joint 25-year PFI contract with FCC Environment for the treatment of municipal waste, and cllr Ross also said the partnership would be targeting recycling rate improvements with a strategic communications campaign in the near future.
Cllr Ross praised the re3 contract, which he said had helped to “significantly” reduce the councils’ reliance on landfill, with around 27,000 tonnes of Wokingham’s waste diverted every year. In this landfill diversion indicator, he said, Wokingham would be 36th out of 352 English and Welsh authorities.
He said: “I think everything we can do with Re3 is a positive thing and definitely we are doing things within this council but also trying collectively to work within Re3 to improve the performance.”
Wokingham is not the first council to highlight the impact of street sweepings on recycling rates. The Agency’s 2012 decision also upset the likes of Surrey Heath council, which also blamed the drop in its recycling rates in 2013/14 on being unable to use street sweepings in compost (see letsrecycle.com story).
Last week, the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC) called on the Agency to reissue its street sweepings guidance due to a perceived lack of clarity over whether the material can be classed as recycled (see letsrecycle.com story).
The recycling rate figures for 2014/15 are due to be published later this year.
- Entries are currently being sought for the 2015 LARAC Celebration Awards in six categories ahead of the August 21 deadline. For more information click here.
Register for free to comment