The report, still being carried out by independent environmental consultants Enviros, says that 25,000 new homes are planned in Oxfordshire over the next 10 years, which will lead to a 15% increase in the amount of waste that will need to be taken to waste recycling centres (WRCs).
“We are seeing changes in society which mean that the number of residents per household is reducing,” said Andrew Symons, waste strategy manager at the council. “No matter how small the household, they still produce waste on a unit-based principle – every household cooks dinner, buys goods such as washing machines and fridges, and has a garden.”
Currently, the county's eight WRCs cater for 65,000 tonnes of waste annually, of which around a third is recycled. However, the Enviros report says that with the new houses the figure is likely to rise by at least 10,000 tonnes, and the council's waste managers are worried that the sites won't be able to cope.
The second phase of the Enviros study is now looking at the improvement of recycling provisions in the county, and the council has already begun to act with the announcement of an upgrade” to its WRC and landfill site at Dix Pit near Witney.
The improvements have been partly-funded by the Waste Recycling Group, which runs the site. Facilities have been provided for the recycling of paper, cardboard, glass, clothes, scrap metal, car batteries, rubble, oil, fridge storage, and garden waste composting.
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