The warning came from Carol Tunnard, waste management officer for Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES;) council, speaking at the Community Recycling Network's annual conference in Bristol today. She noted that the government had taken out rubble and home composting from the targets, which the council has carried out very successfully.
“Now the government has very kindly taken these out we are going to be struggling,” she said.
Currently B&NES; has a recycling rate of 24 per cent or 27 per cent with home composting. It expects a one per cent increase this year.
The council provides a kerbside collection service to all homes in its area using Avon Friends of the Earth. Costs for refuse collection is 22 per household per year and recycling costs are 10 per household per year. Waste disposal costs are 46 with most of the waste landfilled in Buckinghamshire.
The gross recycling costs (including capital costs) is 93 per tonne whereas the revenue is 75 per tonne.
Looking ahead, Ms Tunnard said the council would be focusing on the minimisation of household and trade waste and also looking to improve recycling opportunities against a background of value and affordability.
On the trade side, work is being carried out with B&NES; planning department using section 106 measures. Under discussion are measures to ensure a construction waste from new business premises is recycled and that new businesses say how much waste they will produce and recycle.
On the domestic front, while the council would like more materials collected, it seems that apart from a trial scheme plastic bottles will not be collected in the short term. This is partly because the low weights would not help tonnage targets. But, Ms Tunnard explained: “Our politicians don’t want to pay for plastic bottle recycling because it is hugely expensive.”
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