Shanks pledged the investment in the Ilford Recycling Centre as part of its 25-year contract with the East London Waste Authority, which also includes the boroughs of Barking & Dagenham, Havering and Newham.
The upgraded MRF at Redbridge will handle about 10,000 tonnes of glass paper, plastic, card and cans from the black box kerbside collection service offered to all residents in the borough.
 Cllr Alan Weinberg (left), cabinet member for environment at Redbridge, and Shanks East London's Nick Wellington at the Ilford MRF |
New machinery for the centre has come from Leicestershire-based Okay Engineering, which will allow for improved sorting and lower contamination levels.
Unveiling the improvements, Cllr Alan Weinberg, Redbridge cabinet member for the environment, said the investment in the centre was just one part of the borough's strategy for improving recycling rates. The borough has recently expanded its kerbside collection service from 50,000 to 80,000 households.
Cllr Weinberg said: “Redbridge, Shanks East London and the East London Waste A have worked together to expand the coverage of the black box kerbside multi-material recycling scheme to cover all houses, and are looking at methods of increasing recycling in flats.”
Pride
Nick Wellington, communications manager at Shanks East London, said: “The centre is packed with the latest technology and the staff take a great pride in getting the best quality output possible. However, we need the public to help us by making sure that they use their recycling boxes correctly and put all the right materials in them, including glass.”
Redbridge recycled just under 10% of its household waste in 2002/03, but hopes are that the black box service will go some way to meeting the overall ELWA target of 33%, which Shanks East London has to reach by 2016.
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