Currently, residents receive a weekly collection of waste and recyclables, with plastics presented in a reusable white sack, a green box for paper, cardboard, glass and cans as well as textiles, alongside weekly black sack collections of residual waste.
However from Monday, the recyclables will be collected commingled using blue wheeled bins which have been delivered to residents over the past month. The service will also be switching to an alternate-weekly collection rota for residual and recyclable waste.
Recyclable material will be taken by the council’s collection contractor Amey to a depot in Greenford where it will be bulked before being taken by Viridor to the company’s materials recycling facility (MRF) at Crayford in Kent for sorting and separation.
The council estimates that the contractor will handle close to 21,000 tonnes of material per-year, which amounts to around 45% of the total waste collected in the borough. According to the council a percentage of the value of the recyclables sent to the MRF for processing will be used to offset the cost to the council of using the MRF facilities.
Contract
Ealing council revealed the contract with Viridor is for three years with an option to extend for an additional year.
Under the previous system recyclables were collected, source separated and then marketed for reprocessing by collection contractor Amey. Amey will continue to do this for the source separated collections they continue to provide, such as material from ‘bring banks’ and flats.
Councillor Bassam Mahfouz, Ealing’s cabinet member for transport, environment and leisure, claimed the change will make recycling “easier” for residents.
He said: “One of the most important changes with the new recycling system is that we’re making it easier for residents to recycle, mixing all of their items into one container.
“It’s crucial then that what people send in for recycling, is in fact recycled. Residents can help by making sure that they put clean, dry jars and containers in their blue bin to maintain the quality of the rest of their recycling.
“Viridor is a company that is already familiar with Ealing’s waste as they already process some of our waste. I know they’ll be working with us, to ensure that resident’s efforts help us achieve our 50 per cent recycling target.”
Chris Jonas, director of business development for Viridor, said: “By working together we are able to combine a simpler collection system and one of the UK’s most advanced recycling facilities, which will drive recycling rates up and increase the amount of high quality recyclate that UK manufacturers are able to use in our ever increasing circular economy.”
Plans for a potential switch to a commingled service were first mooted during negotiations for the council’s collection contract in 2011, with budget cuts and the rising cost of waste disposal cited for the switch. Councillors then gave the move the green light in June 2015.
Opposition
“One of the most important changes with the new recycling system is that we’re making it easier for residents to recycle, mixing all of their items into one container.”
Cllr Bassam Mahfouz
Ealing council
However, the authority’s commingled switch was met with some opposition, and the council was singled-out by pressure group UK Recyclate which wrote to the council to warn that it may consider legal action against the move. The group claimed that the switch may not have satisfied the requirement for separate collections of recyclables as set out under the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations.
However, following a response from Ealing, UK Recyclate is understood not to have pursued any further action. Ealing has claimed that a full TEEP assessment has been carried out and supports the proposed change in collection method.
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