"I think these figures show just how much the District will benefit from the new service in the long term"
Cllr Mark Tufnell, Portfolio Holder for the Environment
Cirencester, 30 June: Cotswold District Council announced yesterday that its recycling rate soared by 30% in the first week of the Council’s new waste collection service. The new service is clearly showing great promise for the future.
More than 140 tonnes of recyclables were collected last week compared to just over 110 tonnes under the old service a fortnight previously. During the same five days, the amount of non-recyclable landfill waste collected has fallen by more than 50%.
Cotswold's new waste collection service, involves the collection of food waste and garden waste weekly for composting with all other collections on a fortnightly basis, including residual wastes, dry recyclables in kerbside boxes, and card + cardboard in reusable blue sacks.
Cllr Mark Tufnell, Portfolio Holder for the Environment, said:
“The overriding aim of the new service is to reduce the amount of rubbish we send to landfill sites and to increase the amount of waste we recycle, so these initial figures are hugely encouraging.
“Residents showed great patience and tolerance when the introduction of the service was delayed and there are bound to be some initial teething problems while we all adjust to the changes. However, I think these figures show just how much the District will benefit from the new service in the long term.”
The Council says that the huge volume of card and cardboard which is being put out to be recycled has meant that SITA has had to use two vehicles to collect the recyclables – one lorry for glass and cans, the other for paper and cardboard.
“The Council and SITA are committed to ensuring that the new service is as cost-effective and efficient as possible,” added Cllr Tufnell.
“After the first few weeks, we will analyse just how much more recyclable waste we are collecting and how much less landfill waste.
“We will then be able to adjust our resources accordingly and establish whether the provision of two recycling collection vehicles for each area is the most efficient long-term solution.”
Cotswold DC is applying a strict policy of only collecting residual waste from Council-issued grey wheeled bins with the lid closed or Council-issued beige bin bags. Any additional waste put out at kerbside will not be collected, according to the Council.
Further information
For further information about the new waste service, visit www.cotswold.gov.uk or contact the Waste Hotline on 01285 623123.
During the five days between Monday, 9th June, and Friday 13th June, the Council’s contractor, SITA collected 111.16 tonnes of recyclables (paper, glass, tins/cans and aerosols) from kerbside.
Between last Monday (23rd June) and last Friday (27th June), SITA collected 143.76 tonnes of recyclables from the same households – an increase of 30%.
This included:
93.71 tonnes of paper and cardboard
44.34 tonnes of glass bottles and jars
5.71 tonnes of tins/cans and empty aerosols