The Northumberland district council notched up a creditable 19% recycling rate in the latest league table figures, which showed that Wansbeck’s recycling rate was almost double the 2003/04 target set for it by Defra.
Council leader John Devon has vowed: “We will not be resting on our laurels. We have a number of initiatives in the pipeline that will help boost our recycling figures still further, pushing us even closer to the Government's ultimate target to recycle 25% of household waste.
” We have identified glass and paper as two commodities we should be seeking to recycle in even greater percentages. “
– Cllr Valerie Tyler, Wansbeck DC
“For instance, we are working with schools on ways of recycling more papers as well as educating young people about the global benefits to be gained from recycling.”
Just four years ago Wansbeck was at the bottom of the national waste league table, with the district recycling less than 1% of local refuse and the remainder heading for landfill sites.
Since then nearly 97% of the district’s households have been converted to twin-bin collection system with a black bin for general waste and green bin for paper cans and plastic bottles. The recyclable material is taken to a recycling centre at West Sleekburn, which is run by local firm Senrec.
Over the next few months Wansbeck will be looking to increase still further the percentage and tonnage of waste going to the recycling centre, particularly targeting paper and glass, and already plans are in place to extend garden refuse door-to-door collections.
Commodities
Cllr Valerie Tyler, Wansbeck’s portfolio holder responsible for the environment, said: “We have identified glass and paper as two commodities we should be seeking to recycle in even greater percentages, and we are actively looking at ways in which we can do that in the near future.”
“It was encouraging to learn that Wansbeck now leads the way in recycling initiatives in the whole of the North East of England, and I am confident that the tonnage of waste we recycle in our district will continue to rise over the next 12 months.”
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“We have our own thoughts on how we can do that, but we would genuinely like to hear from residents who may have their own ideas on how we can do even more to recycle waste rather than simply throwing it away for good.”
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