The council has attributed its success to a new waste collection service introduced in September 2004 that collects green waste and dry recyclables on alternate weeks to residual waste.
Councillor Sebastian Kindersley, environmental health portfolio holder, said: “This is excellent news – I don't know of another authority with a higher recycling rate. We knew that introducing our new waste and recycling system would increase the amount of recycling but we did not expect to reach the 50% rate less than a year into the scheme.”
The green box kerbside service in the district collects paper, aluminium and steel cans, foil, textiles and glass on the same week as garden waste is collected in a green wheeled bin.
Jo Fowler, communications officer for the council, accepted that the high recycling rate has a seasonal influence, with residents producing more garden waste than in other months. But she added that before the scheme was introduced the council had a recycling rate of 18% so “the trend is generally upwards at the moment”.
The council's alternate weekly scheme was not initially well received in the district but has now gained general acceptance. “When we first introduced the scheme there were a lot of phone calls complaining but in the follow up calls made a few weeks later people were saying 'now I've actually got used to it its fine, I just have to remember to recycle more,'” said Ms Fowler.
The council is now planning to add kitchen waste to its green waste collection and to introduce plastic bottle banks at its recycling points to further improve its recycling rates and to help local residents adjust to alternate weekly collection. “Once we have got the ability to collect kitchen waste in the green bin and with the addition of plastics recycling points it should make it easier on our residents,” said Ms Fowler.
The garden waste and cardboard collected on the scheme is taken by Donarbon of Cambridge which is now looking to get approval to take kitchen waste.
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