Total cardboard recycling levels in Shropshire have dropped by 60 per cent since kerbside collections were abandoned, it has been revealed.
Shropshire Council ended kerbside collections in November 2011, in a bid to comply with national composting regulations that stated that cardboard recycling could no longer be mixed with other recyclables.
This is due to the potential for contamination due to inks, dyes and plastic coatings contained in many cardboard products.
However, with the removal of kerbside collections, households can now only recycle cardboard at the county’s recycling centres and collection banks, which has resulted in a 60 per cent drop in collected material.
According to council figures, in 2012, just 1,676 tonnes of cardboard were brought to recycling banks (444 tonnes) and household waste recycling centres (1,232 tonnes), down from the average 4,000 tonnes collected from kerbsides before the scheme was scrapped.
This is despite Shropshire Council converting 21 plastic bottle banks into cardboard recycling banks to try and improve accessibility to cardboard recycling points.
However, this is an increase on the amount collected at recycling centres and banks in 2011, when just 804 tonnes was collected.
Recycling rate is ‘key aim’
Mike Owen, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member responsible for waste management, said: “We understand people’s disappointment that, due to a change in national regulations, we can’t currently collect cardboard from the kerbside.
“With our contractor Veolia we’ve been looking at a variety of options to see if we could re-introduce a collection service. Unfortunately none of these options has proved viable in the short-term, but we are currently reviewing our kerbside collection service, and cardboard is being considered as part of this review.
“Continuing to increase Shropshire’s recycling rate is our key aim, and we encourage people to recycle cardboard by taking it to one of the 20 new cardboard recycling banks across the county, or to one of our five recycling centres. The good news is that during 2012, an impressive 1,676 tonnes of cardboard was recycled via the recycling banks and centres.”
Read more about recycling in Shropshire.
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