The Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has today (January 11) published a guide for local authorities to improve the performance of bring recycling sites.
Bring sites are defined as those on any areas in car parks and on streets, at which local authorities or third parties provide containers for the public to deposit recyclable materials.
The guide has been produced as many councils are currently reviewing their provision of bring sites in the wake of budget cuts and expanding kerbside recycling services. The guide notes that the number of sites in operation in England decreased by 7.5% between 2006/07 and 2010/11.
The guide includes information around areas such as communications, data recording, health and safety, procuring new contracts, material quality and selecting containers to aid council recycling officers in developing services offered at the sites.
It also offers advice on tackling problems such as fly-tipping, vandalism, illegal depositing of trade waste and the presence of rogue recycling banks, which are cited among the major challenges by bring site operators.
WRAP
Advice provided in the guide is based on council case studies as well as quantitative data prepared by WRAP. It is accompanied by an online tool which directs users to the most relevant information based on their individual requirements.
Information in the guide has been designed for sites ranging from those with a single container to much larger sites. WRAP estimates that there are as many as 17,000 such sites in operation in the UK.
Commenting on the guide, Linda Crichton, head of collections and quality at WRAP, said: Bring recycling sites are an important element of the overall recycling service that councils offer to their residents but as kerbside recycling services have become commonplace we know that many authorities are re-considering provision for bring recycling.
This guide is designed to signpost councils to the kinds of issues they could consider in deciding on their future strategy for bring recycling. By reviewing current provision and improving performance monitoring, councils can optimise the value they get out of these sites.
As well as guidance, the guide also aims to outline the importance of bring sites to municipal recycling services in the UK, and shows that a total 465,000 tonnes of material was collected across all of the UKs bring sites during 2010/11.
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The guide was developed with the aid of a number of councils from across the UK, as well as The Salvation Army, which operates charity textile banks nationwide, aluminium can recycler Novelis, recycling firm SmurfitKappa and drinks carton recycling organisation The Alliance for Beverage Cartons & the Environment (Ace UK).
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