The move follows a six-month kerbside trial which resulted in 55 tonnes of material being recycled from 5,000 homes in Welshpool. The collection scheme is being increased to cover 5,000 extra homes in the next few weeks.
Powys has the lowest population density in the UK but two-thirds of the county will soon have a kerbside scheme as the council intends to extend the collection to Newtown, Llandrindod Wells and Llanidloes in the summer. Next year, 30,000 homes in Montgomeryshire and Radnorshire will have a kerbside recycling service and proposals for Brecknockshire are under discussion.
Steve Simmons, head of waste management at Powys County Council, said: “We have a lot of innovative recycling schemes in Powys, but we wanted to focus on one area. The trial has helped increase our recycling rate from 9.3 to 14.4 per cent. Welshpool is now recycling 47 per cent of its household waste, but it will take time to build on our successes and extend the scheme.”
State-of-the-art
The expansion of the kerbside collection service has been made possible by the building a 1.3 million state-of-the-art materials recovery facility, which although in use will be completed in spring 2003.
The collection system has been simplified to increase participation. During the trial, residents were given clear recycling sacks with red and black writing for different items. They were told to put the bags out on alternate weeks, but now the bags are being collected on a weekly basis. Tins, cans and plastics are collected in the red bags and paper and textiles in the black bags.
The sacks are taken to a depot where they are sorted by Cae Post, a local organisation that provides work and training for people with learning disabilities. For every tonne recycled, the council pays Cae Post 20. This amount rose from 19 per tonne at the beginning of April.
John Owen, director of Highways, Transport and Property, said: “The take-up for the recycling scheme grew from around 22 per cent in the first weeks to 42 per cent at the end of the trial. This is the percentage of people who put out recycling material every week but if you take into account those who “save up” their bags until they are full and then put them out, the figure rises to more than 80 per cent of the Welshpool population.”
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