Newham recycling rate heading in right direction

And the council has said that every month it is improving further, with August this year producing a recycling rate of 14.6%.

” When Defra reveals its 2005/06 figures we will definitely be in double figures“
– Vincent Vas, London borough of Newham
The Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs is expected to announce the 2005/06 recycling rates in December, with Newham council hoping to improve on its last place in the 2004/05 league table with a recycling rate of just 6.23%.

Vincent Vas, campaigns manager for the council, told letsrecycle.com: “When Defra reveals its 2005/06 figures we will definitely be in double figures. But since April this year the recycling rate has improved every month. We are hoping that this improvement continues going into 2007/08.”

Newham council has said that the key difficulty it faces in improving its recycling rate is the fact that its community is the most diverse in the UK.

Diverse communities often cause communication problems for councils, but Newham has applied for funding from WRAP's communications fund and will find out how much it is set to receive.

Mr Vas also pointed out that minorities do not just cause communication issues. He explained that the high Muslim population in Newham used a lot less cans and glass because they do not drink alcohol.

This can affect the recycling rate because it means that there is less of the higher weight materials to collect. However he added that Newham was sensitive to their cultural nuances, and were planning to tackle through community engagement once it had received the WRAP funding.

Mr Vas added: “We want to go in and talk to community groups and talk to them first hand, to compliment other publicity material, for example leaflets.”

Collections
Newham collects plastic, cans, paper and card from the kerbside – but has also provided residents with 150 bins for glass collections as well.

It has also added a free collection of green waste by appointment, which Mr Vas says is growing in popularity all the time. “We only have a small amount of gardens, but our scheme is becoming more popular. I hope by the start of next year it has doubled.”

There are 96,000 households in Newham, 80,000 of those receive a kerbside collection service. Newham intends to roll out a kerbside scheme to the remaining high-rise households over the next year.