The monthly collections which will also take in catalogues and white paper began on Saturday July 19, 2003 with the material going to the Shotton Paper Mill in North Wales. For the first year of the scheme, the company is putting up 100 a week to be won in a prize draw by residents who put out their blue bin.
To fund the collection service, the council is using a 75,345 allocation under the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme from from the Waste Recycling Group. For the first phase of the paper collection the council has purchased 5,000 blue bins. The first three collections have totalled around five tonnes, 7.5 tonnes and 9.2 tonnes.
Jo Smith, waste minimisation and recycling officer at the council, said: “I think we would have actually done well without the prize draw in this area. It is just an added incentive. It's not why we've done so well, it's because residents have responded so well to the scheme.”
Councillor Terry O'Neill, executive board member for environment and regeneration, said: “The scheme is already proving to be a huge success and the backing it has received from local residents has been tremendous. Five tonnes of paper in the first collection is a really good achievement and we would all like to thank everyone for their support.”
Ms Smith explained that the council will be rolling out the paper collection borough wide over the next 18 months, with separate arrangements for flats. There are 82,000 properties in Warrington and the plan is to roll out the scheme round by round, with a further 5,000 households being added in the next phase.
Recycling culture
John Viviani, UK fibre purchasing manager for Shotton's parent company UPM-Kymmene, said the scheme should help close the loop in terms of material recycling. He said: “It is essential that we foster a 'recycling culture', after all, newspapers and magazines that you recycle one week can be turned into the local newspaper that you buy the following week, creating a local, efficient paper cycle.
“With the help of Warrington borough council, which is dedicated to creating a cleaner, healthier environment, we’re determined to help foster a 'recycling culture' across Warrington.”
The council's current recycling rate is 13.4% and it has a target of 20% by 2003-04. Councillor O'Neil said: “We are determined to reach the tough recycling targets we have been set and we hope this commitment from the people of Warrington continues for the months and years ahead.”
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