Rochford council launched a kerbside scheme two years ago, which covered 1,500 of the 33,000 households in the district and is now expanding the scheme to an additional 4,300 households in a bid to hit its target of 10% by 2003/4.
The district currently has a recycling rate of 5.4%, but the area which is covered by the kerbside collection achieved a diversion rate of 40%.
Cleanaway-owned Serviceteam runs the waste collection service for the council and will carry out the recycling services.
Under the scheme, residents are given a grey bin for refuse and blue and green bins for recyclables. Newspapers, plastic bottles, tins and cans, cardboard packaging and textiles can be put in the blue bins. While the green bins are for garden waste and fruit and vegetable kitchen waste.
Despite the recent health concerns over collecting kitchen waste, Julie Hambling of Rochford District Council said that the council had decided to carry on with the collection because it was already being run elsewhere in the district. “We already collect kitchen waste in part of the district and we have decided to carry on with it rather than have part of the district collecting garden waste and part collecting kitchen waste. But if we didn't already collect kitchen waste, although it is only fruit and vegetable peelings, we wouldn't have started it.”
Councilor Vic Leach, chairman of transportation and environmental services, said: “The recycling figures in my own ward have been remarkably encouraging and with this expansion I would anticipate a dramatic improvement in our recycling rates.”
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