A ‘Recycling Atlas of England and Wales’, to be launched later this month by paper recycler Aylesford Newsprint, has found that in 2003/04, all but three local authorities will have kerbside schemes in place.
But, although the data suggests the 17% national recycling target for England would be met for 2003/04, David Davies, the consultant who produced the report has warned that simply providing kerbside recycling services for more households will not be enough for councils to reach 2005/06 targets of 25%.
The report found that while councils are picking up to 1,300 kg of waste per household each year, the best performing waste disposal authority areas are only achieving ‘pooled’ recycling/composting rates of 300kg per household each year.
Mr Davies told letsrecycle.com: “It's looking good for the 2003-04 targets, but it's going to be very tough to reach the next targets. We are putting in place the foundations and the ground work, but we’re not getting anywhere near the level of participation we need.”
Awareness
In his foreword to the report, environment minister Elliot Morley said that raising awareness would be key to improving recycling rates.
Mr Morley said: “It is my ambition to see recycling become a routine part of everyday life. Raising awareness about waste and the environment and securing active public participation are key to increasing recycling and dealing with waste in a more sustainable way.”
Mr Davies said that one promising potential for increasing capture rates in kerbside schemes is to provide multi-material services. Although 79% of UK households are now being offered kerbside recycling collections in 2003-04, only 43% are being offered multi-material collections.
Organic
And, only 23% of households are offered green waste collections, he said, whereas the highest performing authorities in England and Wales are those providing emphasis on organic waste collections as well as dry recyclables.
The Aylesford report, which is launched in London on March 24, maps recycling performances of all authorities in England and Wales from 2002/03, and also looks ahead at the recycling services that are being provided by councils in 2003/04.
Mr Davies said: “There has been a sizeable shift towards alternate weekly collections – with 80 authorities now adopting those systems – because they offer reduced costs and provide a mild incentive to householders to recycle more.”
Best practice
In the best performing recycling region, the South East, kerbside collection services are picking up at least 60kg per household per year, whereas the average is “well below” 50kg per household per year, the report said.
While the report documents better performances in the South East and East Midlands, David Davies told letsrecycle.com that in terms of the provision of services, the report had uncovered promising signals for other regions, including the North East.
“Historically,” he said, “the North East has been the region that has been lagging. But we have seen significant change in provision of services there, with the North East actually having the highest proportion of households serviced. Although this hasn’t come through into the tonnage figures yet, there has been real change there.”
In terms of civic amenity site best practice, the report notes that best performing waste disposal authorities are achieving diversions from landfill of 200 kg per household per year or more. Provision of CA sites in urban areas is more difficult, it warns, and in London and similar areas, diversion rates at sites are as low as 40kg per household per year.
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