Poole hits 72% recovery rate at household recycling centre

The figures, recorded during June 2003, are some of the best for a civic amenity site in the UK. Recycling rates for some of the other high performing civic amenity sites in the country have been around 50% so far.

The borough council has spent 330,000 improving the site with new signage, greater access and more segregation for waste streams.

Run by an in-house team, the Nuffield centre is the only household waste recycling centre in the borough. It is open seven days a week and allows residents to deposit household waste materials free of charge.

Louise Colclough, environmental sustainability officer at the Borough of Poole, told letsrecycle.com that a key part of the success was showing residents how to recycle more of their household waste through improved signage, site design and a greater number of containers for different waste materials.

Poole's Nuffield Recycling Centre is one of the best performers in the country

Householders can now deposit glass, paper, cardboard, cans, plastic bottles, textiles, cardboard, wood, metals, green waste, soil and rubble, car batteries, engine oil, printer cartridges, fridges and electrical equipment at the site.

Ms Colclough explained: “The success has come because of the way the site is laid out – we have very clear signage, now – and also from encouraging people to separate items before they come to the site, so they can just drive to the different areas to drop off the various materials.”

Another significant component has been clamping down on trade waste coming into the site by employing a security guard, Ms Colclough said. Site users now have to provide two forms of identification to prove they are residents in the borough, and vans are not allowed into the site unless they can prove the materials inside are household waste.

In June 2003, a total of 1,850 tonnes was picked up from the site, which took in 26,945 tonnes in 2002-03.

Commenting on the achievement, Councillor Jonathan Pethen, portfolio holder for Environment, said: “The Government has set Poole very challenging targets and it is extremely encouraging to see the community responding to the changes we have made to the site. Further developments are planned and we are additionally reviewing options to improve kerbside recycling services as well.”

Kerbside
As well as the Nuffield site, the council also offers a black box kerbside recycling service for 81% of its households, picking up paper, cans and plastic bottles. The council is now trying to find out why its residents seem to prefer using bring banks rather than the existing kerbside service.

Following the adoption of a waste strategy, the council is also looking into the possibilities of a new wheeled bin service to replace the boxes, which would then be used to collect glass.

The borough's overall recycling rate for June 2003 was 21.31%, slightly up from the first quarter figure of 20.11%. The council has targets to reach 33% by 2003-04 and 40% by 2005-06.