| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Recycle bin collection issues | |
| Posted by: | Jim Storrar | |
| Date/Time: | 13/11/17 09:33:00 |
| For my own peace of mind, as someone who spends alarming amounts of time on recycling, I have been trying to make some sense out of the various statistics that are published on the topic. My overall conclusion is that this is a tangled topic and that we all need much more information if we are to increase recycling rates. Expert opinion (peace be with you, Michael Gove) suggests that the UK as a whole is almost guaranteed to miss the EU target of recycling at least 50% of its household waste by 2020. I hope that this target isn’t dumped as part of Brexit and the Great Repeal Bill. The last edition of the organ called "Hounslow Matters" (October 2017) stated that the recycling rate in Hounslow had risen to 33.9% and is "on track" to reach 50% by 2020. It did not say to which time period the figure of 33.9% refers but I had heard that national recycling rates have been falling recently so I had a look at Hounslow's published recycling figures for earlier years: 2012/13: 35.1% 2013/14: 35.1% 2014/15: 34.5% 2015/16: 33.8% The comparable figures for other areas for 2015/16 were: Ealing 43.0%, Richmond 40.1%, Hillingdon 44.1%, Hammersmith and Fulham 22.0%, England as a whole 44.9%. Several European countries exceeded the 50% target several years ago and Germany has a current rate of about 66%. I understand that these recycling rates relate only to household waste and that the rates relate to the %, by weight, of all waste from households. Significant trends in the make-up of recyclable materials include the substitution of plastic for glass, the reduction in newspapers and magazines, and the increase in cardboard (Amazon and all that). Hounslow is a member of the West London Waste Authority and 96% of the non-recyclable (residual) household waste from all of West London is incinerated. There are two incineration plants at Colnbrook and at Severnside. Only about 4% of household residual waste goes to landfill. The overall picture is confused by the separate flows of waste from commercial and business premises, construction, demolition and excavation. Business rates do not include the collection of commercial waste. For England as whole these sources of waste, by weight, are far greater than from households. Much of the material from construction sites (brick, concrete, timber, earth etc.) can be recycled and rates of 75% are not uncommon. Hounslow has formed a partnership with London Business Waste and Recycling to create Hounslow Business Waste and Recycling, a not-for-profit limited company, which offers a service to local businesses. For England It appears that households account for about 15%, by weight, of all waste arisings. My own view is that the guys who collect our rubbish every week should be regarded as urban heroes and that they would, with adequate guidance and monitoring, ensure that bins and boxes are put back in the right places. I doubt that they are concerned if the odd glass bottle ends up in the plastics section of the lorry. Are the reject stickers recyclable? As a gardening nut by far the greatest category of waste, by weight, from our place is garden waste (the compost bins are full). Has charging for garden waste increased the amount that goes into the grey/black wheelies? Our main, and almost only, constituent of residual waste is plastic film and polystyrene packaging. In times of yore we did produce a lot of nappy waste. My final point is that wheelie bins and recycling containers have had a very significant adverse impact on the attractiveness of our streets. We have all been affected but I can offer Enfield Road and Enfield Road East in Brentford as extreme examples. What’s to be done? Maybe this is little more than a First World problem? |